Expert Gardening Advice:

Chris Beardshaw - Pest Control

A hot topic for many gardeners and the focus of a lot of time and attention throughout the growing months is pest control - basically managing how you can enjoy your crops and flowers before something else gets them first!  If you are tired of nursing your seedlings and prize plants only to find that battle ensues the minute you plant them out then there are a multitude of ways to tackle the various pests to blame. 

I like to try and avoid the situation in the first place - by understanding the life cycle of a particular problem pest you begin to see where a window of gardening opportunity lies.  For instance Carrot Fly is most active in late spring so if you delay sowing your carrots until early summer you can try and avoid the first attacks.  Similarly, potato cyst eelworm is most active in midsummer so perhaps look at growing early varieties.

Another way of keeping on top of any problems lies in good cleanliness, as pests can feed or shelter where opportunity presents itself and also be diligent and removing any pests before they have the chance to cause major damage or breed and multiply. This applies to most pests but can be more effective by choosing which time of day or night to do it.  We all know slug hunting is best at night because that’s when they are visible but if you are looking to catch caterpillars on your brassicas then go out when the morning is still cool, as this is when the caterpillars are relatively dormant, and shake the stems as this dislodges the caterpillars that then simply lie on the soil ready to be removed. 

When it comes to full on battle then there are many methods and contraptions that can be employed.  Creating a barrier is always a good deterrent and works in many situations.  On the large scale you can put up fences and screens to keep out the more sizable pests such as deer and rabbits but don’t forget that nets are effective against all sorts of flying pests.  If you have or want a fruit garden then it is worth going to the trouble of setting up an effective system to prevent the birds getting access to the fruits as they can easily strip the plants of all their rewards before you’ve even had a look in. A large mesh net can be secured onto posts around and over the plants or if you plan on growing fruits every year then it might be worth investing in a fruit cage or series of fruit cages.

Birds can be damaging in the vegetable garden too so a net over your cabbages can keep pigeons at bay but look also to netting other crops that may be susceptible to insect damage as a fine mesh (down to 0.8mm) can be all that’s needed to stop carrot fly, pea moth, cabbage white butterfly or thrip.  Simply drape the netting over the crops after sowing.

There are then many ways of deterring and trapping problem pests such as wasp traps, sticky fly papers, slug barriers and traps. The enticement method can help with trapping some creatures, especially slugs so try some of the cereals and other products available to catch them in this more crafty way!  And if you have larger pests then using a humane trap may sometimes be the only answer. 

A more recent tactic in the garden is the use of biological pest control which introduces nematodes and other organisms via water into the garden or glasshouse.  Put simply, it introduces a predator species which then ‘controls’ the pest in question.  There are many now available on the market and each have instructions on the time of year to apply.

To be honest there is no single method to eradicating persistent problems but by using a variety of mechanisms you can minimize the impact and damage caused.  Perhaps also we should be more accepting of the challenges in creating our own ‘eden’.

The copyright of the article belong exclusively to Chris Beardshaw

See what Chris is up to at www.chrisbeardshaw.com and for further information see his book ‘How does your garden grow?’ By DK