Tips for Effective Garden Pest Control

I've been gardening for many years now. I took it up as a hobby after a friend told me how relaxing and rewarding it can be to tend to and raise my own vegetables. At first I was a bit skeptical about whether I'd even like it or not, but it didn't take long to realize that my friend was exactly right. Now I love nothing more than putting on some old clothes, listening to soft music on my iPod, and spending an entire Sunday afternoon pulling weeds and gathering my modest harvest.

The only thing I don't like about gardening is dealing with the incredible number of pests that attack my plants. Effective garden pest control is hard work, and takes a great deal of vigilance and perseverance. But there's no way around it if I want my corn, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, and cucumbers to thrive without any problems. So that's why I've been doing my best to gather good garden pest control tips that have worked well for others.

Of course, one way to control garden pests is to treat your plants with harsh chemicals that will kill everything from ants and fleas to aphids, slugs, beetles, and roaches. While this approach is generally cheap and effective, nobody wants to eat food that has come in contact with insecticides -- no matter how safe the manufacturers claim them to be. Even commercial growers have been abandoning chemical garden pest control methods in favor of more natural alternatives.

Because of the backlash against chemicals, there are now many organic garden pest control products on the market. These items usually consist of various combinations of ingredients like vinegar, sodium, potassium, garlic, rotenone, and mineral oils that work to eliminate common insects that attack gardens. In order to use organic solutions to control garden pests, you'll have to know exactly what kind of problems you're dealing with so you can choose the appropriate weapon.

Tiny bugs and insects aren't the only threat to gardens across America. Wildlife can be a major annoyance as well. It can be harder to keep wildlife out of gardens safely and easily, because obviously you don't want to harm any deer, rabbits, squirrels, or other animals in the process. One thing you can try is to install fencing in order to limit access, but this won't do much against birds or burrowing critters. People have reported having good luck placing various substances around the perimeters of their gardens. These include products that have a strong odor, like mothballs, or even the urine of natural predators (which can be purchased at garden pest control supply stores online).

If these garden pest control tips don't work for you, you can always call a team of professionals to come out and deal with the problem. That would be more expensive than doing it yourself, but it's definitely worth it!