. . . Gardens off Drugs . . .
Home | FAQ | Events | Campaigns | Environmental Groups | Contact Us
All Creatures have the Right to Live - Nature knows Best

11. I'd like to use a natural Pest Control

beer.jpg
Slugs love beer

By Robert Patrick

We have had several requests for information about natural pest control. I have been investigating this subject further in order to fulfill the requests.

It is an expansive subject and it involves sorting out pet theories and treatments from factual scientifically plausible/practical solutions.

Aphids: They like new succulent growth and yellow flowers the best. They are usually brought to your plant by ants. Controlling ants will control aphids. First I'll tell you about controlling aphids found on your host plant. Ladybugs and praying mantis have a huge appetite for aphids.

Repellent companion plantings: Anise, chives, coriander and petunias. Nasturtiums are a trap their yellow flowers attract them away from other hosts.

Spray with a tea made from tomato and potato leaves and water.

Alternate spray: Use a mixture of Ivory dish washing detergent 1 teaspoon to a litre of water. You could use any coconut oil based soap in place of the Ivory. The spray strips the wax coating from the insect causing lethal dehydration. This may be used for many insects.

A prepared product: Safer's Soap spray works very well. It is widely available at garden centres.

Dust the affected host plant with diatomaceous earth. It kills aphids. Wear a mask while dusting.

Ants: Ants will always be with us. They predate us on earth.

Ants bait: Mix 1part peanut butter, 1part sugar or jam, with 1part boric acid. Place this mixture on a piece of paper or in a straw by their nest hole or where they travel but not where your pets and children play. Boric acid is the killer but it has a relatively low toxicity to pets and people, however, we still do not want toddlers to play with it. The bait only has to be in place for a few days.

Borers: This solution applies to many kind of tree boring insects.

On the affected tree there is a small hole leaking sap or frass (brown sticky sawdust). Borers are scavengers they attack vulnerable trees. The tree was ailing from something else that attracted and enabled the borer.

Female Borers lay their eggs generally in July, in only a few places: Tree trunks: just below the soil line, at the soil line, just above the soil line, or in diseased limb crotches higher up the tree.

Borers produce one batch a year. The larva that does the damage hatches in the fall hibernates during the winter gets busy in your tree the following spring. Damage is due to tunnels eaten under the bark If they ring the trunk the tree dies. The sooner you notice and start treatment the better.

Treatment: Diatomaceous Earth, Dipel BTK, Syringe applicator.

1. Poke the hole with a stiff wire. Attempt a kill.

2. Inject Diatomaceous Earth or BTK into the hole with the syringe (obtainable from any vet.)

3. Fill the hole with plumber's putty.

BTK is Bacillus Thuringiensis v. Kurstaki. It is a biological control that gives the borer a bellyache and it stops eating and dies in a few days.

It is readily available in small bottles at garden centres.

Canker worms/Inch worms/Loopers; maybe yellow, green, or brown worm-like caterpillars. Many will be eaten by birds however they are able to strip the leaves from many plants quickly, if not controlled. They feed in June and return to the soil to pupate and emerge as wingless moths in the fall to lay eggs.

They may be controlled at the caterpillar (leaf eating) stage with an application of BTK spray. Prepare the spray to the directions and soak both sides of each leaf. It will kill the caterpillars within about 12 hours and may require a second treatment in 5 days.

In the fall an application of tangle foot around the base of the plant trunk or main stems will prevent the wingless moth from proceeding up the plant to lay her eggs.

Slugs: may be controlled by scattering Diatomaceous Earth on the soil at the base of the plant being attacked.

Alternatives include: Crushed eggshells in place of the DE.

Beer placed in a shallow container partially recessed into the soil. Slugs are attracted to the beer and drown in it.

The draw back to this is method is that your pet dog may also be attracted to the beer and may eat the drowned slugs giving the pet a wild breath problem.

I hope this assists some of us as we consider less toxic effective insect controls in our gardens.

9. I need to know more about composting

images.jpg
Rich compost soil

By Renee Lehnen

 

The words “compote” and “compost” come from the Latin root words “com” meaning “together” and “post” meaning “to bring.”  Both the nouns “compote” and “compost” describe food.  Compote is a delicious fruity food for people and “compost” is a well-balanced food for your garden.  

 

Composting is an easy way to reduce our burden on landfill sites, to save diesel fuel used by garbage trucks hauling our waste, and to produce safe, organic fertilizer.  In the United States it is estimated that three quarters of household garbage is compostable organic material- about 230 pounds of yard waste and 100 pounds of kitchen waste per person per year. Assuming the figures for Canada are similar, imagine the environmental benefit if all of that waste were composted!  And the end-product from the bin is just as exciting.

 

Compost is a slow-release fertilizer containing nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium and micronutrients and hummus to improve your soil structure.  It can be used as a medium to start seeds, as a soil amender, and as a top-dressing.  Composting is incredibly easy, too. 

 

Gardening enthusiasts have written whole books about composting but the basics are simple.  Begin by installing a compost box or bin in a hidden area of your garden (unless you are pleased by the aesthetics of your box!) 

 

Containers in warm locations produce compost faster than those placed in total shade.  If you install two containers, you can fill one while emptying the other.  A plastic garbage pail with the bottom cut out, a large, bottomless wooden box with a hinged lid, a chicken wire cylinder, or a store bought composter are all effective containers.

 

Next, fill your composter- with kitchen waste, hair and nail clippings, coffee grounds and tea leaves, grass and hedge clippings, broken up sticks and other garden waste. Avoid putting diseased plant material and dairy, meat and greasy waste in the bin as you do not want to spread diseases, slow down the composting process or attract animals.

 

Once your bin is in use, add in a shovel full of soil periodically to add the micro-organisms and worms which do all the work.  If the material is dry, mix in some water.  Your composting material will need turning for aeration. We turn ours with a big shovel every two weeks or so and have seldom had an odour problem.

 

The composting process usually takes 4 to 6 months in our climate.  With patience you will be rewarded with beautiful, black, rich compost for your garden! 

 

If you can not compost at your home, take heart- municipalities are joining the composting revolution. Toronto and Guelph have been trailblazers in developing municipal composting systems.  Change is afoot in the Region of Halton, too. 

 

Programs serving the Town of Oakville include curbside collection of yard and fall leaf waste and Christmas trees for chipping and composting.  Each spring Halton residents can obtain compost from this program free of charge from the Halton Waste Management Site on Bronte Road, north of Oakville.  In addition the Region sells composters at the Site for $15. (We have one in our backyard and it works very well.)

 

Halton’s latest initiative began on October 3rd, 2005 in several neighbourhoods in the Region including part of the neighbourhood of River Oaks and Oak Park in Oakville’s Ward 5. Homes within the test areas have received 7 litre containers for disposal of all organic kitchen waste including meat and dairy waste.  The Region will collect this material for a large scale composting system in order to prolong the lifespan of the Bronte Road landfill site.

 

Sources: Region of Halton website.

               Campbell, Stu.  Let It Rot. Vermont: Storey Books., 1998.