How to Safely Keep Pests from Destroying Your Organic Garden

Anyone who has spent any amount of time working in a garden understands how protective a person can get regarding their little patch. This is even truer for those who work hard to create and maintain an organic garden. So, when you start to notice little creepy crawlies getting into your garden and eating up all your hard work, it can be infuriating. You need to get rid of them, but you can’t use the typical, inorganic methods. Thankfully, there are several ways to keep pests from destroying your garden while still keeping it completely organic.

Smash a Few Bugs

If you don’t have a problem killing pests, you might consider just smashing the bugs in your garden. You’ll want to do a bit of research before doing this, because you don’t want to get stung or bitten in the process. If you go this route, you’ll be happy to know that sometimes the smell of dead pests is enough to drive off other bugs.

Add Predators to Your Garden

Is your problem just the sight of having pests in your garden or are they eating your plants? If you don’t take issue with having bugs in your garden, you can actually add more bugs that will eat the ones bothering you. This will take quite a bit of research, but it is an extremely natural way of ensuring the safety of your plants.

• Ladybugs feed on mites and aphids
• green lacewing feed on aphids
• Cryptolaemus Montrouzieri (lady beetle) feeds on mealybugs

As another option, consider letting your cat or dog into the garden area once or twice a day. If you don’t have one, put up a bird or owl house for them to enjoy your garden and keep the pests away.

Rid Squirrels and Moles with These Tricks

If you have squirrels and moles, it’s easy to get rid of these pests naturally without harming them. As much as they may get on your nerves, strike back with things they don’t like.

• Put up an automatic sprinkler system
• Add motion detector lights to scare them off
• Place garlic cloves, hot peppers, or a combination of lemongrass, cinnamon, and thyme essential oil in your garden to deter them
• Plant tomatoes or a small pot of tomatoes in the garden (squirrels do not like the taste at all)

Make an Organic, DIY Bug Spray

If you want a quicker way to get rid of those pests, you might consider making up a batch of DIY bug spray. While there are many recipes out there, one of the best involves boiling garlic, mint, and chili peppers in water. You then mix this with a little bit of dish soap and spray it over your garden. This will chase off the majority of bugs and kill those that stick around. It needs to be reapplied since it washes off once wet. And, of course, you’ll want to wash it off before eating anything you’ve sprayed with it.

For a quick and easy solution, you can visit your local gardening center and ask for organic bug killer. This will kill off all the bugs in your garden, not just the pests, so it isn’t recommended by quite a few organic gardeners. Even organic pesticides can cause an imbalance in your garden, which is counter constructive to organic gardening. However, if you’ve been infested with pests or all other methods haven’t worked, this is probably the best solution for you.

Hopefully, one of the above four methods can rid your garden of pests and keep it as organic and pesticide-free as possible.

Katie Reed

Katie Reed is a passionate writer and mother of four vivacious boys from Salt Lake City, Utah. Drawing from her own journey through TTC, pregnancy, and the joys of raising children, she offers a wealth of insight into the world of motherhood. Beyond her heartfelt tales, Katie delights her readers with family-friendly recipes, engaging crafts, and a curated library of printables for both kids and adults. When she’s not penning her experiences, you’ll find her crafting memories with her husband and sons—Dexter, Daniel, Chester, and Wilder.