Tag Archives: natural pest control

25+ Beneficial Plants That Ward Off Pests and Protect Your Garden

Everybody agrees that good neighbors are so much better than bad ones. This is true not only at home and at work, but also in the garden.

There are good plants — companion plants — that do a lot for their plant neighbors and your garden overall. They help each other grow, they can increase the yield that each neighbor produces, and some even provide added nutrients to the soil.

One of the things that make companion plants great neighbors is that they offer pest control benefits. They mask or hide a crop from pests, produce odors that confuse pests, and act like trap crops that draw pests away from other plants.

Not all plant visitors are bad. In fact, some are so good that we actually want to encourage them to come into our gardens. Unfortunately, we tend to think that any bug we see is bad; when we focus so much on removing any and all pests, we can wind up killing off the “good” guys in the process.

That’s why companion plants are so great.

While they discourage “bad” garden pests, companion plants also help to attract beneficial insects by providing them with breeding grounds and creating a habitat for them.

Some beneficial insects feed on weeds, some feed on insects and mites like aphids, and some attack insect pests by sterilizing or debilitating them. Good pests you want to invite to your garden include: lacewings, parasitic wasps, lady beetles, spiders and predatory mites. And, of course,bees andbutterflies are considered good guys, and we need to attract them to our gardens for pollination.

One of the best ways to attract beneficial insects is to provide a diversity of plants that takes into account seasonality and the different feeding requirements they have at the different stages of development. Make sure to use plants that are rich in pollen and nectar at different times of the year.

To get you started, here are some of the most common beneficial companion plants:

In general, plants with many small flowers work better than those with a large single flower because small insects may drown in large blooms with too much nectar. Small flowers include:

asters
alyssum
lobelia
small sunflowers and
yarrow.

Umbelliferae plants also make great beneficial plants. These include:

angelica
clovers
coriander (cilantro)
dill
fennel
parsley
Queen Anne’s Lace and
rue.

Herbs help repel certain pests like the cabbage moth and the carrot fly. These include:

basil
borage
chamomile
lavender
mints (spearmint, peppermint)
rosemary
thyme and
sage (Salvia) family plants.

Annuals or perennials in the sunflower/aster family (many small flowers/petals around a central disk) also make great companion plants. These include:

cosmos
zinnia
daisy and
coneflower.

Do you have favorite companion plants you’d like to recommend? Share them in the comments section.

Related:
DIY Pesticide Recipe is Safe Enough to Eat
5 Ways to Save Water in the Garden

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

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25+ Beneficial Plants That Ward Off Pests and Protect Your Garden

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How to Get Rid of Fruit Flies in the Kitchen

Few things are peskier than asudden onslaught of fruit flies in your kitchen. It doesn’t matter how quickly you eat your produce, they always seem to find it first!

Fruit flies breed extremely quickly, so it’s pretty easy to end up with a colony in no time. But if you’re dealing with an infestation in the kitchen, odds are you don’t want to spray toxic chemicals in the area.

Sick of them taking over? Compostyour overripe fruit, then testone of these tried-and-true, chemical-free remedies to banish them from your kitchen forever.

Vinegar Trap

Non-toxic and works like a dream! This classic recipe will get those little bugs in no time.

Grab a small jar and put a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in the bottom.
Gently mix in several drops of liquid dish soap.
Place the jar on your kitchen counter, wherever you see the most gnats.
They will be drawn to the smell of the apple cider vinegar, but the soap will catch them.
When you’re satisfied, empty the jar and rinse.

Catch & Release

Humane and low-tech, this catch and release methodis a winner.

Set a nice piece of soggy, rotting fruit in a container with a lid.
Wait for the bugs to start feasting.
Quickly cover the containerthen release the flies outside, away from your home and your food.

Sticky Honey Trap

Easy to make and works like a charm.

Spread an index card with honey.
Tape the trap to a window frame or otherwise open location.
Dispose of the trap when you’ve captured all the pests you can.

General Tips & Tricks

Have an indoor kitchen compost? Empty it daily to eliminate it as a food source for fruit flies.
Keep your indoor compost’s moisture content balanced and dryishby adding “browns” i.e. any compostable element that is carbon-based, like newspaper or wood shavings.
Toss old flowers and the stale water they are standing in.
Deodorize your garbage disposal. Drop a quarter of a lemon and a splash of vinegar down the drain, then run the disposal.
Clean the kitchen and sweep up crumbs. Fruit flies zero in on food wherever it may be. Deep clean to remove any sweet residue or forgotten piece of food that may attract them.

Do you have any other creative ways to rid your kitchen of fruit flies? Let us know in the comments!

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

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How to Get Rid of Fruit Flies in the Kitchen

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It’s World Migratory Bird Day: Protect Our Feathered Friends

Migratory birds are so threatened they now get their own global holiday.

Every year, on or around May 10, scientific organizations, biologists and bird lovers everywhere hold events to raise awareness about the threatsmigrating birdsface. The main partners behind the event include BirdLife International, Wetlands International, the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership, and the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation.

The 2016 World Migratory Bird Day eventis focusing on the millions of birds being killed or lost every year. There’s no secret why:

* Loss or deterioration of habitat is making it impossible for many birds to survivethe long distances they cover when they migrate because there is no place for them to shelter or find safe and unpolluted water to drink or food to eat. Disturbances or breaks in their “fly ways” throw migrating birds off course and may even upset their reproductive cycles.

* Illegal poaching,taking and trade is causing many birds to be captured in the wild and unlawfully sold to stores and vendors. Many birds do not survive in captivity.

* Hunting migrating birds is stillcondoned in many parts of the world, without regard to how seriously bird populations are being depleted. Keeping migrating birds as pets also undermines their ability to thrive. By some estimates, over a third of bird species worldwide are kept as pets, and around one in seven is hunted for food. It’s also estimated that between half a billion and one billion songbirds are hunted for sport and food each year in Europe alone, reports BirdLife International.

* Poisoning is an all too frequent occurrence, as lead ammunition continues to build up in the environment. Meanwhile, agricultural pesticides continue to poison birds on a large scale. Seabirds die after eating plastic and other junk and debris that ends up in the oceans. A veterinary drug used to medicate cattle and pigs is having a devastating effect on vultures and other birds that feed on carcasses.

What Can You Do?

Support groups dedicated to protecting migratory birds. Organizations ranging from BirdLife International to the Audubon Society are working to pass laws, strengthen regulations and educate policy makers and the public about the need to protect migrating birds. You can support them with donations and by sending emails to your elected officials in favor of international treaties that are designed to keep birds and their migration routes safe.

Maintain your own bird-safe habitat. Many of the birds that arrive in your yard in spring and summer are traveling back from the regions where they overwintered. Some may stay put during the warm summer; others may just drop by on their way to the Arctic Circle, where millions of birds pass June, July and August. Either way, you can give them a boost by making fresh, clean water available in bird baths or ponds and by eliminating the use of pesticides, herbicides and other toxic chemicals in your yard.

Keep your cat indoors. Domestic cats kill approximately 2.4 billion birds every year in the U.S. alone, making cats the biggest mortality threat to birds, says the American Bird Conservancy. If your cat must go outside, let it out at dusk, when most birds roost out of reach in trees, rather than during the day. Just make sure to get it in at night to keep it safe so it won’t be out prowling at dawn when the birds start to stir.

Buy organic, shade-grown coffee. Birds that overwinter in the tropic need non-toxic environments with plenty of trees and bushes to live in. Shade coffee plantations maintain large trees that provide essential habitat for wintering songbirds, says the National Wildlife Federation.

Prevent birds from hitting your windows and the windows of large office buildings. Birds can get confused if they see the sky, trees and other nature scenes reflected in glass.

Help birds recover. If you come across a bird that appears to be injured, the Humane Society recommends gently covering the bird with a towel, then placing it in a bag or box with air holes that is securely closed. Keep the bird warm and settled for about a half hour. If the bird can then fly away on its own, release it. If not, contact a local wildlife rehabilitation service to get their help.

Related:

Habitat Loss Threatens More than 90 Percent of Migratory Birds
Road Noise Hurts Migratory Birds, Says New Study

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

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It’s World Migratory Bird Day: Protect Our Feathered Friends

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Gardening for Butterflies

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Gardening for Butterflies

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Could We Use Sex Chemicals — Rather Than Toxic Ones — to Protect Our Food?

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Could We Use Sex Chemicals — Rather Than Toxic Ones — to Protect Our Food?

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4 Ways Ants are Good for You and Your Garden

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4 Ways Ants are Good for You and Your Garden

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10 Ways To Keep Stink Bugs From Stinking Up Your House

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10 Ways To Keep Stink Bugs From Stinking Up Your House

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5 Ways to Avoid Pesticides In & Around Your Home

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5 Ways to Avoid Pesticides In & Around Your Home

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Guide to October Gardening

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Guide to October Gardening

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