Looking For Green Gardening Tips

[homealone]

I am interested in some green gardening tips because I don't want to spray my gardens this summer with pesticides to keep away the bugs and what not.

So I am looking for tips to help keep the both the flower garden and veggie garden free of pests, yet healthy.

If you all know of something that can accomplish this task with out chemicals please list them. I am sure I am not the only one here who is wanting to have a garden this year with out the bugs.

[badmomma]

Well there are many things that you can do to help eliminate bugs. Try using pepper for ants. Spinkle it on the plants it will help to deter them.

Practice companion planting. With companion planting, one type of plant derives benefit from being planted close to another type of plant. Some pairings may attract beneficial insects, others may repel harmful ones. In the vegetable garden, for example, planting corn, broccoli, or radishes near cucumbers can deter cucumber beetles. The pungent odor of members of the Allium family (onions, garlic, and chives) repels aphids, carrot flies, moles, and weevils. Alliums also help prevent fungal diseases and their flowers attract beneficial insects. African marigolds emit a powerful allelochemical which repels nematodes, while French marigolds attract hoverflies, which eat aphids.

Try other natural remedies. Insecticidal soaps may be the best bet for a serious insect infestation. Sprinkle wood ash or diatomaceous earth around garden plants to discourage cutworms, slugs, and snails. Dust plants with wood ash to prevent beetles. Wood ash raises soil pH, so don't overdo it, and be aware that wood ash is toxic to toads

.They also recommend hot pepper spray to get rid of pests.

Repel pests with hot pepper spray. Hot pepper spray is an effective repellent for deer, aphids, whiteflies, harmful beetles, and other pests. Buy a commercial spray or make your own: Combine 1 teaspoon of dishwashing liquid, 2 tablespoons of hot red pepper sauce, and one quart of water in a spray bottle. Dishwashing liquid helps the spray stick to the plant. Reapply spray after it rains or after watering with an overhead sprinkler. Don't use when plants are flowering; pollinating bugs don’t like hot pepper either.

These should help a bit. I also recommend planting castor beans at either end of your garden as moles hate them. That should help to keep them out. We also put tin pans tied on to poles in our garden to keep out the other critters.

[homealone]

Thanks for the great tips. Beetles seem to be the biggest of my problems here when it comes to my gardens. So I will me making some hot pepper spray this spring and summer to make sure that I can keep the pests out.

I will let you all know later on how well this stuff works.