Many of us, especially those of us with home gardens, prefer pest control without the use of noxious chemicals. And it is easier to achieve than you might think. Most of the solutions come from simply imagining yourself as a plant or insect.Plants naturally have an amazingly diverse array of methods of protecting themselves. Some have physical barriers such as thorns or prickles. Others use chemicals to render themselves poisonous or unpalatable. Some simply smell unattractive to insects; some of the same aromas that we humans find delightful are repulsive to 6-legged pests.The idea in natural pest control is to imitate nature. You can provide physical barriers such as fences, nets, or bags. You can also scare away the pests. A rather clever method of scaring birds away from fruit trees is to place reflective tape on the branches, making the tree appear to shimmer in the sunlight. This confuses pests enough to make them suspect that the tree might be dangerous.You can also create traps that physically capture the pests and prevent them from leaving. You either create some sort of container with a trap door so that the pest can enter but not leave. Or you can use a sticky surface like fly-paper that the pests can land on but not leave. You can use beneficial critters that eat or otherwise discourage pests. Cats can control rodents, ladybugs can eat aphids, etc. You can put bird-houses near your garden, allowing insect-eating birds to take up residence and feast on your pests. Some people make similar homes for small, insect-eating bats. There is a wee bit of danger in this approach, in that sometimes these creatures that have been brought in to control pests can sometimes become pests themselves. Cats, for example, can be rather destructive of wild bird populations.One of the most effective and most versatile approaches uses the aroma method. Make the plant (or the entire garden) smell bad to the bugs. Read the labels on commercial products advertised as organic pesticides. Much of the time, the active ingredients are listed as garlic, citrus, or chili extract. These ingredients do not poison the pests but rather change the scent of your plants so that the bugs lose interest. This is also the principle behind companion plants. Plants such as marigolds are pleasing to humans but repulsive to certain insect pests. Including companion plants in your plans will make the entire garden smell unattractive to the bugs while delighting all the humans around.None of these approaches is fool-proof, and none is applicable to all situations. But they do offer some effective alternative to the poisons that many people rely on.
Image: Eugene Sim/Shutterstock