Eeeew
bugs! Good bugs, bad bugs, bugs is bugs. What’s the difference, you say?
Creepy, crawly and oogy, they are the stuff of nightmares and horror flicks. If
you have serious bugophobia, gardening definitely isn’t for you, although certain
ones will still give me the screaming meemies every time. Last year there was
one day that the June beetles (like Goliath-sized Japanese beetles on steroids
and appear the same time of year) seemed to have appeared overnight like a
plague. After a few minutes outside, billions of them kept giving me the ‘ol
bump and run. I ran toward the house like a bombarded soldier with a panic
attack and didn’t come out the rest of the day!
Unfortunately,
during beetle time, the liquid carbaryl comes out. This is the only time of
year I use it, only on the plants the beetles love during beetle season. I
usually don’t have to use pesticide for any other insects. I try to let the
yard take care of and sustain itself. I can also be a very lazy gardener. My
motto is “if it ain’t easy, it ain’t for me.” This plan seems to really work
for me, because I suppose the rest of the time, the bad critters are being kept
in check by the good predator critters. In this country, Japanese beetles have
few natural predators (I fed one to a pond fish and even he spit it
out!) so they can multiply unchecked and you may have to protect a few
sensitive ornamentals. The little suckers left my zucchini alone, or I would
have gladly let them have it all.
If
your garden is plagued by insect and fungal problems, don’t reach for the next
bottle of stuff ending in –cide. Enemy pests multiply more rapidly than
good ones, which means the next time your garden is under attack, it will be
worse. More insecticide equals more pests in the long run. Remember the mantra
“manage instead of eradicate.” What this means is you will inevitably sustain
pest damage somewhere in your garden at some point. You are supposed to, this
is normal and natural. If your garden is otherwise healthy, you will hardly
notice. If you learn to live with this for a while, what you will see is less
damage and healthier plants over time. Occasionally, there may be nothing you
can do but break out the big guns, like me with the beetles. Carbaryl (brand
name Sevin) used sparingly can be less toxic than some plant-derived “organic”
pesticides like rotenone, and good old-fashioned sulphur or baking soda/water
mix are great fungicides. Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt (Dipel, Thuricide) is
nothing but a bacterial disease for grubs and caterpillars and works great.
Bacillus popillae is milky spore disease for beetle grubs and continues to
multiply in your soil to kill future grub generations.
Biological
controls can be the home gardener’s version of WMD’s for pests and diseases.
Beneficial insects emerge later in the season than enemies, so be patient in
the spring and give them a food source when they finally do emerge. Ladybugs
and their larvae are voracious predators and eat aphids, scale, mealybugs and
spidermites constantly, but did you know that fireflies do also? Release them
from that jar this instant! Most folks have never heard of a tiny Green
Lacewing, but also known as the “aphid lion,” they can eat up to 1,000 aphids
per day! Microscopic beneficial nematodes will live happily if your soil
returns to a natural balance and will destroy their bad brethren, as well as
flea larvae, grubs, borers and other bad soil dwellers. These can be ordered in
boxes to be applied with a sprayer or mixed into your soil. If you see oblong
white eggs on the back of a tomato hornworm, leave the worm alone because these
are the larvae of the tiny parasitic Trichogramma wasp (no they don’t sting)
and are getting ready to make short work of this green nightmare, as well as
cabbage loopers, and codling moth larvae. Wasp larvae hatch and then feed upon
the body of a living larval or worm host. Let them multiply and they will do
your dirty work for you. Let’s not forget the alien-looking praying mantis.
These guys eat everything that moves. Since they don’t fly much, they
usually hang out in the same place they were hatched or released. Of course,
don’t forget toads and frogs, bats and birds, snakes, and spiders (ugh…). All
these great guys will move on to greener pastures instead of hanging out in a
chemically dependent yard.
All
insects need places to feed and breed. Predators may eat your aphids, but need
attractive plant sources for larval food, breeding and shelter. The more tall
native grasses, wildflowers, and weeds you allow to grow, the more your yard
will benefit. This does not mean you have to have a jumbled weedy mess. Let a
few goldenrods (solidago) and giant clover; for example, grow on the edge of
your property, or in your perennial bed. These are host to scores of
beneficials, as well as beautiful butterflies. Grow herbs not just in pots, but
intermingle them in your flowerbeds and vegetable garden and allow them to
flower. Not only are they beautiful and smell great, whether you use them for
cooking or not, herbs repel bad bugs and attract good ones. As always, use
organic soil amendments, remove difficult, unhealthy plants, use balanced
fertilizer only when needed and this can prevent tons of nasty issues.
Here
is a fun factoid for you: Approximately ½ the world’s food is lost to insect
damage, but a possible 90% of all eggs and larvae of pests would be destroyed
by their natural enemies if pesticides were in limited use. There may
not be much we can do about large agri-biz, but we can practice backyard
biological warfare. For in-depth information to better your backyard
environment, Rodale Press is a great source. Remember Ben Franklin’s old adage,
an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I guess he knew what he was
talking about. I’ll bet he never had a June bug phobia though…
Dawn
Leith
Durham
Garden Center