Banish Garden Pests Naturally

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By Sher Holloway

Everyone loves beautiful plants, but most of us really don’t care for the pests that sometimes go along with them. If you love plants but hate bugs, you can get rid of the naturally. Below are some great natural pest control remedies for those unwanted creepy-crawlies.

• Get rid of slugs and snails by spreading crushed eggshells where they are prone to travel. They won’t travel over the rough surface and if they do, it’s “Good-bye, slug.”

• You can also get rid of snails and slugs with yucky, cheap beer. Just fill a jar lid with beer and place it where snails and slugs like to hang out. It’s best to get it as flush with the ground as possible, so you may have to dig a little indention in the dirt.

• Want one more slug remedy? Coffee is a great fix as well. Spread your used coffee grounds around slug- or snail-infested areas.

• Ants are no fun. To get rid of them, make a bait of 99% sugar and 1% boric acid. Remember to keep the mixture away from kids and pets.

• Ladybugs are a natural pest remedy too! They eat aphids, and in the words of the all-powerful Martha, that’s a good thing. Most experts agree that purchased lady bugs are not always the best for controlling aphids and that it’s better to attract them naturally. You can do that by planting parsley, wild buckwheat, white sweet clover, tansy, sweet fennel, sweet alyssum, spearmint, Queen Anne’s lace, hairy vetch, flowering buckwheat, crimson clover, cowpeas, common knotweed, caraway and black locust.

• Make your own “insecticide” using only three simple and non-toxic ingredients. Take a bar of Ivory Soap and drop it in two cups of water. Allow it to sit overnight. You want much of it to dissolve. The next morning, remove what has not dissolved and put the mixture in a spray bottle along with 1/4 cup corn oil. Shake well. Spray on infested plants, both the top and bottom of the leaves.

• Remember that many pests really don’t like certain plants such as mint, marigolds, garlic and basil. They make a perfect natural pest repellent! Try mingling some of these with other plants or flowers to ward off unwanted insects.

• Flies are not necessarily a garden pest, but they most definitely qualify as unwanted pests. You can help keep them out of your house by keeping potted basil around as well as citrus peel pomanders.

• I love to look at deer, but if they are eating your garden away, there are some natural remedies. Mix one tablespoon of liquid dish detergent with one ounce of hot sauce into one liter of water, and spray plants that deer have been eating.

• If you have a large area you need to make less attractive to hungry deer, try this mixture: 1 cup milk, 2 tablespoon of cooking oil, 2 gallons of water, 2 tablespoons of liquid detergent and two whole eggs. Mix it up and pour it into a spray bottle. The eggs will help it stick to plants through a light rain, but it will have to be reapplied after a heavy rain.

© Sher Holloway

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