Home Remedies to Get Rid of Bugs
There is a massive wave of public opinion going against the use of chemicals whenever possible.
People are instead re-evaluating their grandmother's old home remedies but they are not being given much support from what I can see.
I guess that this is not surprising, given the vast amount of money we spend every year on chemicals and the vested interests of the industry itself.
A lot of the money we spend on chemicals is for cleaning and the killing of insects.
Most of us use our insecticides in the house, but gardeners use even more of the substance outside killing the bugs that eat their blooms and their fruit.
Would it not be superb if we could rediscover the way these things were done before the invention of chemical insecticides, some of which, like DEET, have admittedly been around for quite a long time - more than 60 years in the case of DEET.
The first thing a first-rate gardener should try to do is look after the environment while tending his or her garden.
After all, if the environment is right for your flowers, then they will have a better chance of flourishing.
One of the best ways of doing this is by getting rid of the insects that eat or damage your plants and the best way of doing this is by encouraging the predators that eat the injurious insects.
Easier said than done, you may say.
However, if you create the right environment, they will come.
Two of the most widespread yet also two of the most insatiable predators are ladybirds and earwigs.
if you can get those to stay in your garden then most of your insect problems will resolve themselves.
You can encourage ladybirds by planting herbs such as fennel and dill, which they seem to prefer.
In order to encourage earwigs, grow dahlias.
If you plant a dozen dahlias around your garden you will attract hundreds of earwigs, but put sharp sand around their base, because slugs and snails like them as well.
Earwigs like to crawl under things, so leave a few potted plants around as well, but raise them off the ground a little by standing the pots on a handful of gravel.
This will give the earwigs somewhere to live and will help with the drainage of the pot.
Depending on where you live, of course, the praying mantis is a good friend to have in the garden.
These insects look scary and they really are scary to other insects.
They will eat any insect they can get hold of, but they are completely safe for humans.
Lizards and frogs and toads are good allies to have as well.
They also need somewhere to crawl under and flower pots or large stones are perfect.
Put a few stones the size of footballs under your shrubbery or make a rockery for them to live in.
However, cats will kill them, so it is a good idea to discourage cats from your garden.
People are instead re-evaluating their grandmother's old home remedies but they are not being given much support from what I can see.
I guess that this is not surprising, given the vast amount of money we spend every year on chemicals and the vested interests of the industry itself.
A lot of the money we spend on chemicals is for cleaning and the killing of insects.
Most of us use our insecticides in the house, but gardeners use even more of the substance outside killing the bugs that eat their blooms and their fruit.
Would it not be superb if we could rediscover the way these things were done before the invention of chemical insecticides, some of which, like DEET, have admittedly been around for quite a long time - more than 60 years in the case of DEET.
The first thing a first-rate gardener should try to do is look after the environment while tending his or her garden.
After all, if the environment is right for your flowers, then they will have a better chance of flourishing.
One of the best ways of doing this is by getting rid of the insects that eat or damage your plants and the best way of doing this is by encouraging the predators that eat the injurious insects.
Easier said than done, you may say.
However, if you create the right environment, they will come.
Two of the most widespread yet also two of the most insatiable predators are ladybirds and earwigs.
if you can get those to stay in your garden then most of your insect problems will resolve themselves.
You can encourage ladybirds by planting herbs such as fennel and dill, which they seem to prefer.
In order to encourage earwigs, grow dahlias.
If you plant a dozen dahlias around your garden you will attract hundreds of earwigs, but put sharp sand around their base, because slugs and snails like them as well.
Earwigs like to crawl under things, so leave a few potted plants around as well, but raise them off the ground a little by standing the pots on a handful of gravel.
This will give the earwigs somewhere to live and will help with the drainage of the pot.
Depending on where you live, of course, the praying mantis is a good friend to have in the garden.
These insects look scary and they really are scary to other insects.
They will eat any insect they can get hold of, but they are completely safe for humans.
Lizards and frogs and toads are good allies to have as well.
They also need somewhere to crawl under and flower pots or large stones are perfect.
Put a few stones the size of footballs under your shrubbery or make a rockery for them to live in.
However, cats will kill them, so it is a good idea to discourage cats from your garden.
