I’m under the weather, and haven’t had the energy to write in my usual fashion this week, but I can offer a few suggestions that will help as the gardening season, and the pests that come with this passion, approaches.
Things we probably have in the kitchen can be valuable in banishing things that go munch in the night. And they can inject new life into flagging houseplants, too.
I try not to use chemicals in my garden, which affect hummingbirds, ladybugs, worms and birds all summer. This isn’t an ironclad rule. Nothing in life is black-and-white, but I’ve learned to be flexible enough to resort to Bayer spray a few times to kill the plague of Japanese beetles that can multiply frantically and decimate an entire garden in a week or two. The treatment worked; I saved lots of otherwise doomed flowers and shrubs, not only at my home, but all over the neighborhood.
Here are some easy ideas to consider for environmentally friendly pest removal, and for general garden health.
I’ll begin with two simple recipes for insect control.
-Add two teaspoons of liquid soap (non-perfumed and not antibacterial), and a few drops of vegetable oil to a gallon of unfiltered water. Shake and spray over and under leaves of plants you are concerned about. Choose a cool morning to do this.
-In a blender mix a half-cup of hot chili peppers with 2 cups of water: toss in a few drops of vegetable oil. Blend, strain, and spray on plants prone to being eaten. Bugs will gag.
Weeds emerge from between cracks or your lovely brickwork, or settle into your garden beds. But, in my garden, they find themselves in hot water. Literally. My cheap, alternative way to banish them is to put the kettle on, then take thehot water straight out and tip a cup or two onto weeds. It’s directed, non-poisonous and always available. The shocked rogues will shrivel after one or two doses of boiling water, as their tenacious roots have no defense. Do this before they have a chance to spread, though.
Dandelions are notorious for this rampant behavior, so snap their heads off as you pass by, or do the water torture as soon as you see them. I used to push in little markers (golf tees are good) as I made my rounds, and after I was done with the usual morning chores- deadheading, pruning, etc., I would boil the water and treat each marked area. It worked just fine. Now, I have hardly any aliens. About the only thing that might suffer are the worms that chose that bit of ground to snuffle around in.
When you finish your coffee, take the (cooled) grounds outside to spread around the bases of your rose bushes, or perhaps your heuchera (coral bells) or hydrangea shrubs- anything that enjoys an acid jolt occasionally. Loose tea leaves are appreciated, too. Mix in well. I use my sensitive fingers, so as not to dislodge, or break, tender roots.
After breakfast, pop the eggshells from your omelet into a paper lunch bag, smack the bag a few times, then add the little pieces to the soil. Calcium-rich eggshells are appreciated by almost every plant out there. I find that brown shells stay where I put them longer; birds love eggshells, and will snatch the white ones away sooner, so I lean toward the brown shelled eggs, which are less discernible.
Take your saltshaker outside when hunting slugs. A quick shake and they’ll dissolve into the great scheme of things.
When you clean the fish tank, (freshwater aquariums only) don’t throw out the ammoniated water; the garden loves this treat. Dilute a bit with unfiltered tap water and add to the earth around hostas and roses and any flowering perennial; slugs caught in this acid rain will shrivel. (Never add to edible plants, like thyme or basil, though.)
When preparing vegetables, save the water, which is rich in nutrients. That green tint is a hint that there is goodness in there. Wait until cool, then water the garden. If you have indoor plants, don’t be afraid to offer this treat to them as they begin to notice spring.
Rather than throwing out banana peels, toss out the hard ends and then dice the skins and add to the soil under plants: they’re rich in potassium. When working with potting soil, toss a handful of chopped banana peels into your mix and you won’t need to feed your plants for a while. Or, chop them and pop them into the freezer in baggies. In spring, add this treat to any plant’s earth right out of the thawed bag.
Save empty toilet paper and paper towel cardboard cylinders; they can be cut smaller and pushed into the ground to help protect emerging plants from weather, or to keep them warm when light frosts surprise us in June. Just bend in the top to close it off.
All those recycled house leavings makes for good digestion for our Mother, Earth.