Controlling Garden Pests the Natural Way

How can you keep your garden pest free and your lawn beautiful without wreaking havoc on the planet and your health, while saving money? Try Nancy Sleeth’s suggestion on the following natural alternatives for controlling unwanted insects and fungi in the garden, which are easy to make. Some can also be used for house cleaning and insect control.

1. Basic insect spray – Repels insects; kills fungi and mites. Mix two tablespoons of dishwashing liquid soap into one gallon of water. To target fungi, add one to two tablespoons of baking soda. Add sulfur to kill mites.

2. Peppermint tea – All-purpose insect spray; ant repellent. Brew peppermint leaf tea. Cool and place in a properly labeled spray bottle.

3. Garlic spray – Repels insects. Mix two teaspoons of garlic juice, one teaspoon of cayenne pepper, and one teaspoon of liquid soap in one quart of water.

4. Banana peel repellent – Repels aphids. Place banana peels around roses and other plants.

5. Lemon spray - Repels white flies and soft-bodied insects. Also get rid of fleas. Boil three lemon peels in one quart of water. Let cool, remove peels, and put solutions in a properly labeled spray bottles.

6. Lemongrass wasp repellent - Repels wasps and the like. Place lemongrass in a vase on your picnic table to keep wasps away.

7. Vinegar spray – Combats fungal disease and black spots on roses. Combine three tablespoons of apple cider vinegar with one gallon of water.

Our Green Garden - Past, Present, and Future

We used to have a HUGE vegetable garden behind our backyard fence. It is a land parcel of EPA easement, belonging to another county. We cleared away the thick thorny bushes little by little over nine years ago, and I had an ambition to have a even bigger native garden surrounding the vegetable garden.

Then the backyard neighborhood was finished the development and some of those backyard neighbors called in their Home Ownership Association and claimed back that land in 2007. Our neighbors and we had to move the fence and plants back in a month. Lots of work, HARD work. A positive way to view this: it gave me an opportunity to redesign our flower and vegetable gardens, even though I had to discard some of the trees, flowers, and structures.

Now we have a self-made tool shed, a self-made two-bin wooden compost box, a self-made wooden picnic table, and flowers/vegetables everywhere, in the backyard along the fence, in the front yard beside the entrance, and on both eastern and western sides of the house. Lots of green, continuous blooming of colorful flowers. Everyday when I watch out to the window, I see flowers smiling back to me. What a joyful life!

And the future of our garden? Faithful comeback of all my perennials year after year, even greener and more colorful!