Organic Pest Control
I am a professional pest controller. I make my living from using mechanical and chemical methods to kill insects and rodents, but I feel strongly that most pest problems are caused by mis-management and can be prevented or reduced naturally.
I just read the brilliant article by Alan Titchmarsh in April's GW Magazine, and I agree with him whole heartedly! There is no permanent way to kill all pests in your garden, and trying will only leave you with an unbalanced eco-system and a less healthy garden as a result.
It can sometimes be hard to resist the urge to reach for the chemicals - a caterpillar just ate the first first ever flower on my tree peony (doesn't it know how many years they take from seed to flower?! Inconsiderate insect!) but I know that if I am patient long enough the birds and wasps will eat most of the caterpillars and feed the next generation who will eat even more caterpillars for me in the future.
Alan, thank you so much for encouraging us all to be restrained in chemical use and let nature do the work for us.
Anyone else had any heartbreaks or successes with natural pest control?
Posts
I never spray anything except a blast from a hosepipe if aphids arrive before the ladybirds are out in force.
I use organic slug pellets from very early on and very sparingly and that seems to work for my hostas and other slug caviar but when I found the perishers munching I would lob them into the road to be squished.
I had a deal with the garden birds - I'll feed you all year round if you feed caterpillars and aphids to your chicks and save my veg. It mostly worked. Nets worked to keep pigeons of brassicas.
I did buy sachets of poison when the rats got to cheeky - country garden so inevitable but sometimes they just encroached too much from the fields.
No-one was allowed to squish wasps or spiders.
More of the same in this new garden except we have snails now, not slugs.
Thanks Amy. I have achieved my balance.
In the sticks near Peterborough
Obelixx, any tips on organic slug pellets? I've never used them, but it would be nice to have a guilt free way to save my poor delphinium shoots from being munched. Any advice would be great, thanks
I use the nematodes for slugs and squish aphids with my fingers and get lily beetles with tweezers and squish those too. Don't like chemicals as has said before they hurt the good bugs.
Every morning before work I go on patrol lily beetle and aphid hunting. Sets me up for the day in the office ?
They are based on a ferrous sulphate chemical which only gets slugs and snails. Any surplus breaks down into harmless compounds.
However, I have read that the traditional metaldehyde pellets contain a substance that stops other critters taking them in to harmful levels and the organic ones don't have this so it's swings and roundabouts.
I shall use up my stock of organic ones and then review again but I suspect the trick is to use them very sparingly and only on plants targeted by the blighters and to start very early so they are dealt with as they emerge form hibernation or hatch and before they start chomping and breeding.
I would only use slug pellets sparingly in spring to protect new shoots anyway, so hopefully the ferrous sulphate would be harmless enough. Thanks for the info!
I use the lamb wool pellets & grit as a mulch, very very effective. I haven't had a problem with slugs this year at all.
In the sticks near Peterborough
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
In the sticks near Peterborough