Chemical pesticides are dangerous poisons. Using these in your garden can contaminate your homegrown produce, and exposure to these chemicals can cause serious health problems for you and your children. If you need to keep the pests out of your garden this year, you can successfully accomplish this task with a few natural, eco-friendly items.
Copyright: Five Seed
Coffee grounds
Spreading coffee grounds around your garden not only keeps away moles, gnats, snails and slugs, but it is a great fertilizer. (Additionally, you can spread this onto your lawn before watering, which will keep it green and healthy.)
Peppermint essential oil
A few drops of this oil in water sprayed onto your plants will keep ants away. You can also moisten pieces of fabric with peppermint essential oil and place them around the garden to deter rodents, rabbits, and squirrels.
Diatomaceous earth
This product is made from fossilized algae. You can sprinkle it in your garden, and when insects walk over it, it sticks to their exoskeletons, drawing out the lipids. This eventually causes them to dehydrate and die. Diatomaceous earth claims to be safe for humans and pets. Use it sparingly, however, as it will kill the helpful insects, as well, like ladybugs and spiders.
Liquid castile soap
Mix 2 tablespoons of castile soap and 1 quart of water and spray onto your plants. This will keep many different insects away, including moths. Again, use this sparingly, as too much soap will potentially damage your plants.
Spices
Try sprinkling your garden with red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, or turmeric. This can deter ants, rabbits, gophers, rats, and a number of other unwanted creatures. Crushed garlic can also help, or water that crushed garlic has been soaking in. Garlic is also a great natural fungicide. Just be careful, as using it too often, or using it on crops that don’t need it can be damaging to your garden.
And just to throw in one more, you can pour beer into shallow cups or jar lids and lay them in the garden beds. They attract and kill slugs.
This post was updated from my previously published article over at Examiner.
yay for the beer comment! i’ve got a ‘beer garden’ that has saved my tender young zucchini, melon, pineapple sage, and other starts. i’m going to have to buy some d-earth, another blogger recommended that for ants in the house, and i used to use it in the back yard for flea killin’ the old fashioned way
now, just need to figure out those big awful brown bugs that love my bell peppers so i get a better crop this year!
@Ecogrrl: Yeah, the beer one was for you! LOL. I know how successful that has been for you. I don’t tend to have a lot of slugs, so I always forget that one. I get the ants and earwigs. Eew!
i will always go the natural way and resist chemicals. but i’ve yet to find the natural substance to keep ants away. tried them all.
@Monica: I’ve had trouble with that, too. I’ve been planting peppermint around the two anthills I have and that helps a lot to “corral” them, but it hasn’t killed or move them. And I’m not really out to kill them, anyway, since they aren’t really hurting anything – I just don’t want them to get into the garden bed. I haven’t tried Diatomaceous earth yet, though.
I have recently moved into a new old victorian house. I’m renting. I have slugs in the back room and bedroom (all on ground floor) and these are above the cellar which is how I think they are getting in. there is nothing between the floor boards and the cellar so apart from the draft i’m also getting slugs!!! should I just sprinkle coffee on the floor here too? I have a baby daughter (2 and a half) and 2 cats so poison is out of the question.
Thanks
@Maria: I’m sorry – I think I forgot to respond to your comment! Please forgive me! I have heard that the absolute BEST thing for slugs are the beer “traps.” They love beer. If you are able to keep your daughter and cats out of there, I would highly recommend trying the beer trick. My friend in Portland swears by it. Hope that helps!
i’ve never had luck with coffee grounds, but maybe i didn’t put enough out. i have had great luck with beer though! if i don’t use something i will have no shade garden or strawberry plants left!
@Lynn: I’m convinced there are even more natural pest deterrents out there – I just have to keep experimenting to find them! I’ll keep you all posted!
fantastic post!
I’ve read about slugs- mostly that you should do traps (you could even use an old soggy piece of wood turned downwards) and pick them off every day… kinda gross but the most effective supposedly.
so far our tiny rooftop garden is growing!