Protecting Your Investment (Insect and Other Garden Pests)

Assassin in the Garden

A Guide to Controlling Insects in the School Garden

A challenging part of gardening is the managing of all the pests and diseases that garden plants can be afflicted by. Plant diseases (fungal, bacterial or even viral) can quickly kill plants or at least cause them to suffer. If you are a beginning gardener, you may start by choosing plants that are tough and require little care; then you can grow increasingly harder and harder-to-grow plants. Insect pests and weeds are also a constant threat to our garden plants. Anyone who has gardened outdoors knows that rabbits, birds and even racoons are also hungry “pests” that know a good plant to eat when they nibble on one! Be sure to address this problem by taking protective action ahead of time.

Suggestions for better success with larger pests (rabbits, squirrels, birds, etc.):

• Use fencing or mesh to keep large pests out.
• Try dangling old, aluminum pie pans from strings attached to stakes to scare away birds.
• Do not use mothballs in the garden; they do not work. This is contrary to the mothball (pesticide) label and is a legal violation and is hazardous to people, pets and other wild animals. Always follow the directions on any pesticide label.

For insect (bug) pests, consider these reminders:

• Although pesticides can possibly be used, remember that this should not be the first management strategy that you should consider
• Gardens are full of both beneficial and harmful insects and other types of pests. Over time, you will learn which are helpful and which are harmful. The most important, first step when managing any pest is to correctly identify it. Remember, the first important step of “pest management” is to correctly identify the pest that is causing your plants harm. Once you do correctly identify the pest, it will be much easier to choose the right management strategies to apply.