How To Get Garden Pests Under Control

About 6 years ago I used to work in my garden at least 4 times a week making sure everything was as it should be. Some times when walking out to check on things, I almost hated thinking about what I may find when walking through the garden. I would start on one end and work my way through, checking all the plants and leaves to make sure there weren't any issues I may have needed to deal with. More times than not there were little holes in the plants here and there that weren't there only a day or so before. This was a frustrating sight to say the least.



Most of these issues could have been blamed on the most common of pests such as snails, birds, caterpillars, worms, slugs, and every once in a while a gopher, but this isn't always the case. If you've been dealing with these issues as well, there are some solutions that can help to alleviate the problem. Insects and disease are the major causes of plant deterioration, and controlling that problem will help to prevent many of the issues a person may face. When a person puts all the work they have into their garden, it's almost heart breaking to see all that hard work simply go down the drain because of a few pesky insects.



We know that some insects are good to have around but there are far more of the bad variety that will need to be dealt with. These garden destroying insects live in the ground, in piles of leaves, and old weeds to name a few of their hiding places. After working in the garden for years, I found that these weren't always the first areas that would get treated and instead the main focus was to spray the plants themselves and hope this would do the trick. This would work for a while but later these nasty pests would be back in full force trying to devour everything in sight.



A few of years ago I decided to eliminate all the different areas in the garden that could potentially harbor the type of pests that will do the most damage to the garden. What I found was that it wasn't only the pests that could do the damage but diseases that also lived in other places as well as in the ground. If you are having the same issue, here are a few things that you should keep in mind. To keep the pests and diseases away from the garden the first thing is to make sure there are no piles of leaves, weeds, or any type of dead plants near the garden. Cleaning all of these areas alone will make a huge difference in what you'll see when walking through your garden.



The next thing is to make sure there isn't any decaying matter anywhere else in or around the garden where diseases and insects could be living. Turning the garden soil and making sure there are no clumps or any irregularities will also make a huge difference. The main objective is to eliminate any of the places these types of pests or diseases like to hang out. Once you've made sure all of these areas have been properly dealt with giving those pests no place to hide or congregate, it's time for using a dormant spray to help keep the really destructive pests under control.



If you're not sure how to use a dormant spray, this type of spray can only be used when the plants are dormant. Usually between the months of February and March are the best times for using this type of spray. As with any type of pesticides, you'll always want to read the directions because I've found that many people will use a specific type of pesticide for the wrong reasons and wonder why they have a slight infestation. Keep this in mind when using dormant spray and you will find that your plants will yield quite a bit more and the pest issue will be well under control.



The key to the whole problem was to make sure all the dead leaves, weeds, and any decaying plants have been successfully cleared from the garden. Make sure you turn the soil to make sure there isn't anything under the soil that is decaying or creating an issue that you can't see. Make sure when using selected pesticides, they're being used according to the directions on the product itself. All of these techniques will help get the pests under control your garden and allow you to have a very full and productive garden all throughout the year.