Gardening is a fun hobby that allows you to spend time outside. However, pests can ruin all your hard work and turn an enjoyable pastime into a frustrating and arduous task. Large predators such as deer and rabbits love to turn your plants into snacks, others like small bugs can even kill your plants. This wide range of predators makes it difficult to keep out of your garden, especially if you want to avoid using unnatural pesticides. Before you tear your hair out and give upon your hobby, try the following ways to keep pests out of your garden:
Cayenne Pepper
Due to their small size, it can be particularly difficult to keep pesky bugs out of your garden. Physical barriers generally keep out only larger bugs such as moths and beetles, but do nothing to stop smaller pests such as ants. Repel tiny invaders by sprinkling cayenne pepper into your dirt; just make sure to reapply it often, as rainwater or watering can wash it away.
Panty Hose
Panty hose are a great (and cheap!) way to deter pests. When stretched over small plants, such as baby tomatoes, panty hose provide an excellent defense against small animals such as squirrels and birds. Panty hose can also protect plants against larger bugs; simply surround the plant with a wire cage and cover it with panty hose.
Coffee
Coffee grounds repel everything from snails to deer, and can even stop the neighborhood cat from roaming around in your garden. As a bonus, they also add nitrogen to the soil, which encourages plant growth.
Eggs
Deer and elk hate the smell of eggs, making them a great (and natural!) way to keep your plants from becoming a snack. Simply blend a few eggs with water and spray the mixture on your plants. Then, throw the empty egg shells into your garden; not only do they add to the effectiveness of the spray, over time the egg shells break down and fertilize your plants.
Dish Soap
Aphids, also known as plant lice, are small bugs that suck the sap out of your plants. Since aphids are so small, this in and of itself is not too dangerous; the problem with aphids is that they leave behind a sticky substance that eventually causes mold. Mold can not only kill your plants, it can also make you sick. In order to combat aphids, mix water with a small amount of dish soap (the mixture should be made up of 10 parts water to 1 part dish soap) and spray it on your plants.
Predator urine
Deer and rabbits wisely avoid predators such as coyotes and foxes; in fact, even smelling the urine of a predator repels these animals. Luckily, you don’t have to try and collect these samples yourself; most gardening stores sell relatively cheap bottles of coyote and fox urine. Since most animals have a keen sense of smell, you only have to use a few drops of urine throughout your garden.
