Susiej

A list of 13 ways to deter pests and creatures from your garden.

This is what it all comes down to.  A few simple items that will either make or break our summer garden fort, made with Jack and the Beanstalk beans. I’ve been reading with horror about the varmints and diseases that will likely attack my pests once I place the plants for our 20-foot bean fort into their final growing spot at the lake. Lord knows, there are plenty of creatures up there willing to take a snack out of our foilage. The list includes deer, skunk, rabbits, groundhogs — all hungry, and ready to eat the plants.

So after fear, there comes great courage;, if you do your part to gather some research and facts. Good results come easier when you’re open yourself to moving with the flow of life, rather than against it. So, knowing that my kids will be eating many of the plants from the fort, and tromping among them with their hands and feet, I’m shying away from pesticides and herbicides. I’m going to be enviornmentally friendly, and organic, with my pest deterrent approach. Hopefully, the animals will sense what we’re trying to do and work with us to keep the plants safe. Ha! I can dream, can’t I?

This is what I’ve come up with:

1. Epsom salts sprinkled on the plants will make them bitter tasting to groundhogs and rabbits. The advantage to this method is that Epsom Salts can also be used to fertilize the plants. The downside, of course, is that the rain will wash away the Epsom salts, and I won’t be there to sprinkle more Salts, as we’ll return from the lake to tie up the school year. But, I’ll use it as long as I can.
2. Ammonia-soaked rags can be strewn along the perimeter of the garden, forming a stinky barrier to repel groundhogs, rabbits, skunks and opossoms. I am no stranger to this treatment. Once again, this will fade before I can reapply the treatment.
3. The reason the Groundhog is afraid of its shadow is obviously because he’s a fraidy cat. So, they run from any thing with motion. I might try hanging aluminum foil strips or pie pans from chicken wire. Pinwhells can even work, I’ve read.
4. Always, the best solution, I’ve learned is simply a fence. Using chickenwire, the fence will need to be buried underground, at least 12-18 inches, and 2 feet above the ground.
5. Plastic netting works for deer, raccons and opossoms. The idea is to string the netting on bamboo poles, leaving about 8 inches in front of hte garden, laid out in front like a mat. Racoons have senstive feet, and they don’t like walking across the netting.
6. Dial deodorant soap, and Irish Spring soap contains “tallow” which repels deer. Soap made with coconut oil will not repel the deer. Here’s the trick: Leave the soap in the package, to prevent the rain from washing away the soap too quickly. Drill holes in the soap so that you can run a string through the soap to hang them from trees, or the fence erected to get rid of groundhogs. Plan on one bar of soap for every three feet.
7. Castor oil is supposed to keep moles, groundhogs, chipmunks and squirrels away. Here’s a recipe. 1 tablespoon of Castor oil. 2 tablespoons liquid dish washing soap, 6 tablespoons of water. Put oil and soap in blender and mix until you have shaving cream. Add water, and continue to mix. Pour concoction in watering can, and pour over the yard. Again, the problem with this is, you must re-apply after the rain.
8. A horizontal border could be as simple as laying down crumpled black plastic, newspaper or aluminium foil, held in placed with rocks. Raccoons and skunks hate to walk on this stuff.
9. I could sprinkle black and cayenne pepper around plants to keep rabbits away. This also works for insects that eat plants. Lucky for me, I can buy a solution called Hot Pepper Wax that will adhere to the plants, and not wash away after rains. The company recommends you reapply every three weeks. This one will work.
10. Plant cucumbers. Raccoons and skunks hate cucumbers. But I wonder what will eat the cucumbers instead?
11. This one is my favorite… for slugs. Cut paper towel or toilet paper cardboard tubes and push them into the ground, around the plants, so that slugs can’t reach the stems, or the leaves! Pus the tubes into the ground so that the sleeve of the tube protects the plant from beneath, comes above the around at least 4 inches around the stem of the plant.
12. There’s no way around making this Manure Tea. Apparently, it prevents seedlings from getting diseases. Recipe: 1 shovel full of fresh or aged manure. 1 burlap bag. 1 5-gallon bucket of water. Put manure in bag. Tie the bag shut and put in bucket, and fill bucket. Leave a handle on the burlap outside the bucket, dry, so you can pull it out. Let the tea sit for 2-3 days, then pull out the tea bag. This tea is too strong to put directly on seedlings, so before using the tea, dilute it with more water, so that it looks like weak iced tea. Now, the diluted tea can be sprinkled over the seedlings.
13. Hydrogen Peroxide Spray. If a fungal or bacterial disease his hit the plants, despite the manure tea, I’ll make this spray. 1 Tablespoon of 35 percent hydrogen peroxide. 1 gallon of water. Mix the hydrogen peroxide into the water. Wear gloves when using this. You can use this to prevent disease, by spraying once a week, (or more if it’s raining a lot). But, they caution to wait until transplants are established before these are sprayed.

This is going to be a lot of work. But, I’m up for it. So, any ideas you’d care to pass on from your own experience? I need them!

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

Filed under: Life, Science, Thursday 13, gardening, try this by SusieJ - 26 Comments →

Do your cucumbers wilt on the vine before they even start to grow? Do your tomatoes get big wormholes before you get a chance to put a slice on top of your freshly grilled hamburger? Then your veggies need some friends, or companions, as gardeners like to call them. Here you’ll find a list of 13 plants, with their beneficial combinations.

Why? When you combine certain combinations of plants, they attract beneficial insects and birds, which keep pests from eating your seedlings down to nubs. This is why planting chives around your roses keeps the roses from getting diseases.

As I began researching “happy” plant combinations, I soon realized I had opened a can of worms. Companion planting is really “enemy science,” and creating a garden plan this way is like creating seating arrangements for a forced holiday family dinner that includes two volatile guests that “must be separated.” To truly understand a plant’s companion, you also have to understand the plant’s enemy – not just bugs, but actual plants. For example, I learned that Dill repels the squash bug that has killed my pumpkins for the last five years. Yet, be careful where you plant it, as dill will attract the tomato hornworm. Here are a few more “beware” combinations:

• Mint and parsley are enemies.
• Keep onions away from peas.
• Keep potatoes and tomatoes apart as they both can get early and late blight contaminating each other.

Companion planting was beginning to sound more like the very bickering and sibling rivalry I had hoped that my future 20-foot green bean fort would help me avoid all summer. The seeds may be called, “Jack and the Beanstalk,” but there was no magic in the packet, so to ensure their vital growth, I’ve figured out my summer fort’s companions here. I will not be growing corn, but I’ve included it here, just in case you may want to try it – because it seems to be very important garden friend.

1. Beans: My prize plant; the foundation and roof of our fort. Beans help all the other plants by enriching the soil with nitrogen. There is a summer trio that makes a great combination: beans, sweet corn and melons. The three plants like the same conditions warmth, rich soil and plenty of moisture. Peas, and carrots, and Basil are also good companion plants. The herb summer savory is important to keep away bean beetles, while improving the growth and flavor of the beans. However, keep the onion, chives – all the alliums away from the beans. (See, I told you this was kind of complicated.)
2. Tomatoes: Basil is not only the perfect friend to your antipasto platter, but it’s also the perfect pest-deterrent herb to plant alongside your tomato plant. But, keep the corn away from the tomato plants.
3. Carrots: Plant with pole beans, radishes and onions and tomatoes. However, if you are planting the carrots with the beans, you must keep the onions away from the beans. Also, keep the dill away from the carrots.
4. Cucumbers: Plant with beans, cucumber, corn, nasturtiums but no strong herbs. Farmers will sometimes let the cucumbers grow up and over your corn plants, so they need no staking. Cukes also do well with peas, beets and carrots. Dill planted with cucumbers will attract beneficial predators. (But once, again, keep the Dill away from the carrots and the tomatoes!) Nasturtium improves growth and flavor. Keep Sage away from the cucumbers.
5. Chives: A workhouse in the garden that is known to prevent apple tree scab, and black spot on roses. (Give it 3 years to complete its work.) In the vegetable garden, chives will help carrot and tomatoes taste better, and will keep away aphids, Japanese beetles and carrot rust fly. Every year, my cucumbers are ruined by powdery mildew. This year, I’ll make a chive tea to prevent powdery mildew from taking over my cukes. (Cover chopped chives with boiling water. Cool, strain and put in a spray bottle and spray plants two or three times a week.)
6. Watermelon: Grow with corn, nasturtiums, peas, sunflowers, squash, cucumbers, pumpkins and radishes. Nasturtium deters bugs and beetles. Oregano provides general pest protection.
7. Dill: Dill repels the squash bug that will kill your pumpkin vine. You can always scatter dill leaves on your squash plants. However, dill does ATTRACT the tomato hornworm; so keep it far AWAY from your tomatoes.
8. Garlic: Garlic, like chives, is also the friend to the rose plant, as it repels aphids. The garlic plant accumulates sulfur, a naturally occurring fungicide that keeps your garden soil from preventing disease. Time-released garlic campuses, planted at the bases of fruit trees, supposedly kept deer away… so I may have to try this one for the garden.
9. Nasturtiums: An edible flower that is one of the best at attracting predatory insects. Expert gardeners plant nasturtiums as a barrier around tomatoes, radishes, cabbage, cucumbers, and under fruit trees. The leaves, flowers and seeds are all edible.
10. Petunias: I’m including this here, because this is my favorite summer annual, (I also love their smell) so I might as well put it to work. Petunias repel the asparagus beetle (nope, not growing it, but just thought I should know) and tomato worms. Apparently the Petunia also repels Mexican bean beetles, and the leaves can be used as a tea to make a potent bug spray.
11. Pumpkins: Pumpkin pals are corn, melon and squash. Marigold deters beetles. Nasturtium deters bugs, beetles. Oregano also provides general pest protection. As noted above, Dill can help me get rid of that squash bug… yet, once again; I have to make sure the pumpkins are far away from the tomatoes to do that.
12. Soybeans: They add nitrogen to the soil making them a good companion to corn. They repel chinch bugs and Japanese beetles. Plus, my kids love them!!!
13. Confuse the pests: I learned this from a wise gardening friend: Mix up your plants, flowers with the vegetables. The mingling scents will confuse the pests, and make the garden much nicer for you to look at.

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

Filed under: Life, Science, Thursday 13, gardening, try this by SusieJ - 22 Comments →