Gardening is a hobby that most of us cherish and our gardens are quite close to our hearts. However, pests exist to spoil your garden. When looking into pest control for your garden, you need to keep in mind that plants do not appreciate toxic treatments. Be sure to find non-toxic and safe solutions to be used on or near the plants to repel the pests.
Here are a few ways you can take care of your garden without using toxic pesticides. These treatments are beginner-friendly, thus, can be followed by anyone.
Soap Water
Most soaps contain ample chemicals to kill pests but not toxic enough to harm plants. Thus, it can serve as an effective measure for pest control. To use this to your advantage you would need a few things;
- Dish soap – 5 tbsp.
- Water – 4 cups
- Spray bottle – 1
Mix the dish soap and water, and pour the solution into a spray bottle. Now spray the solution near or on the plants and you are good to go. The solution will repel pests and kill existing pests by dehydrating them.
Trimming and Cleaning
When your garden is clustered, it attracts more pests since they have multiple places to hide from you. Trimming the plants from time-to-time and rooting out the unwanted plants is the first measure that needs to be accomplished. Pull out weeds and other unnecessary shrubs that are growing around your garden. Most pests generally do not like to move around in the open. The cleaner your garden, lesser pest movement.
Plants which repel pests
We’re all aware that there are certain essential oils that have the properties to repel pests, however, we often forget that these essential oils are derived from plants. Having these plants in your garden can help keep pests away. Plants such as chrysanthemums, marigolds, mint, basil, citronella grass, lavender, chives, petunias, bay leaves, rosemary safeguard your garden. They are also great for culinary purposes.
Garlic
Much like the hated garlic breath, pests hate garlic odor as well. You can stick a clove of garlic directly into the soil around your plants and it will keep pests from approaching that vicinity.
Onion
Similar to that of garlic, pests hate the odor from onions. You can chop a fresh bulb onion and place it near the stem of your plant to keep bugs from harming your plants. This is a non-toxic treatment, therefore, it is safe to be used on plants.
Herbal Water Spray
Herbal water pest control sprays are made using essential oils which use plants with pest repelling properties. Sage, thyme, basil, rosemary, mint, rue and lavender are a few plants that are commonly used when battling pests. To make this pest control spray, take a few crushed leaves or trimmings of these plants and leave to soak in a bucket of water overnight. Strain the solution and pour it into a spray bottle, and you’re good to go.
Magma Home Pest Spray
The Magma Home Pest Spray By MDX Concepts is a pest repelling spray which uses these essential oils in your home. This is the perfect alternative if you do not have enough time to create your own pest control spray. This spray is non-toxic, therefore it is safe to directly spray it onto your plants. It’s also kid-safe and pet-safe, therefore, you do not need to worry about your children or pets coming in contact with the solution. Due to this pest control spray’s non-toxic nature, it does not produce any harmful fumes which makes it perfectly safe to be used indoors.
