Gardening
In midsummer, gardeners have to get tough, but that doesn’t mean they have to get toxic…
In midsummer, gardeners have to get tough, but that doesn’t mean they have to get toxic…
You’ve done everything you can, right from the start. You ensured your plot and layout optimize light. Avoiding chemical fertilizers, you used compost to enrich the soil. You planted a wide variety of different native species that are suited to the area and resistant to local scourges. You made sure the plants are well spaced, allowing air to circulate among them. The garden has been carefully watered to appropriate levels as you have been augmenting nature’s own irrigation system.
Now, it is midsummer, and it is all beginning to look so lovely and lush and full. And then… you start noticing the dreadful telltale signs. The pests are here. It is a galling moment for many gardeners when they see the fruits and vegetables of their considerable labours chewed, bored, infested or otherwise ruined.
Until quite recently, the immediate response was to declare war and deploy chemical weapons. But that is a short-term answer with its own serious long-term questions: modern pesticides have unintended consequences, collateral damage if you will, for bugs essential to keeping your garden healthy. As well, these noxious toxins will wipe out key microorganisms at work in your soil. Your garden is its own ecosystem; like everything in nature, it seeks balance, and it thrives when in equilibrium. Chemical pesticides destroy that balance and inhibit its return. They also harm wildlife and can be health risks to children and pets. There are consequences too for our larger ecological system. With roughly eight million household gardens across the country, the decisions we each make in our own plots can have very real effects on the wildlife and world around us.
Leaving the toxins on the store shelf then, what is your best course of action? Some experts will tell you it is time for a moment of reflection — time to ask, what can I tolerate? Some pests will be around only a few weeks then be gone. Can you wait it out? If you are like 90 per cent of avid gardeners, the simple answer to that question is “no.”
So, what can you do? First, identify the troublemaker. Which plants are being harmed? What is the damage? When is it happening? Examine the plant carefully, then follow up with an online search. It shouldn’t take too long to identify the miscreant. Fortunately, there are organic solutions that are easy to make and use for most every intruder. In support of its Garden Habitat Certification program, the Canadian Wildlife Federation has plenty of resources available on its website.
Gardeners from coast to coast know the aphid, that small pear-shaped, long-antennaed insect. There are hundreds of different species, but they all wreak havoc in pretty much the same way: sucking sap from the plant, they weaken it. And they leave behind a sticky residue that attracts other insects to the compromised plant. It can result in a foul black mould. The key approach is vigilance. You need to know when these pests blow in, so you can act fast. Watch for discoloured and spotty leaves. Examine the underside of leaves for clusters of small aphids. Crush any you find, or prune the offending areas (and destroy, to avoid spread). Once you know you have them, spray your hose up into the leaves’ undersides to rinse. Repeat every few days.
Another vile visitor to Canadian gardens are slugs and snails. They consume entire seedlings and devour leaves of innumerable garden plants. They are a particular menace when the garden is overwet. Slugs are one of those scourges that other species can help with. A variety of snakes, like the lowly garter, as well as toads and several species of birds all enjoy snacking on them, so you have allies. When you are on the case, handpicking is the way to go, particularly at nighttime with a flashlight when they are easy to find. Drop them in soapy water. Another useful weapon is 10 per cent ammonia solution in a spray bottle: it will kill them on contact and can serve as an effective way to protect vulnerable hostas as they first appear. Experienced gardeners swear that crushed eggshells distributed around vulnerable plants will protect them.
Another national scourge for gardeners is weevils, which seem willing to eat anything in your garden. They particularly prefer young plants and those in fruit and will dine on a plant’s leaves, flowers and fruit (and for good measure, the larvae will eat the roots). Weevils also require a nighttime operation. Simply by laying a cloth around the base of an infested plant and giving the leaves a prolonged and vigorous shake, you can dislodge many, and then transfer them to a soapy dilution. A popular longerterm yet benign remedy is to introduce beneficial nematodes midsummer through early fall. These ubiquitous roundworms, available at gardening shops, control larvae in the soil.
These are only a few of the species that madden Canadian gardeners every summer. Just as there are non-toxic solutions to these particular problems, so are there for virtually every pest you may encounter. There really is no justification, given the wider impact, for resorting to toxic chemicals — and there are plenty of reasons not to.
To learn more about these and other pests and how to be rid of them, including ideas to invite birds, snakes and other creatures to dine on your nemeses, visit the CWF website: cwf-fcf.org.