Pest free garden: how to keep your garden safe and secure.

If you love your garden, then chances are that you will spend lots of times cultivating and tending to it. The last thing you will want is to discover that you have a pest problem. Read More

Pests come in a variety of shapes, sizes and forms. When you discover that you have pests in your garden, you will want to make sure that you deal with it as soon as you can.

To help you have a pest free garden, we have put together a list of some of the biggest pests, why they are such a pain and how you can fix them.

Slugs and Snails

One of the most common pests that you can find in your garden, they are present all year round, however they particularly love when it is warm yet damp. Both slugs and snails are not fussy when it comes to what they eat and will munch on plants and vegetables with a rather impressive fury. The main treatment for slugs and snails can be dangerous to other animals and children, therefore they are not always recommended.

Instead, you will need to take preventative measures in order to limit the amount of damage that your garden has to bear from these slimy pests. A great approach to take is to encourage the animals that love to eat snails and slugs. This includes toads, thrushes and hedgehogs. You could also try to place barriers such as copper tapes around the areas that you want to protect, creating a barrier that they won’t be able to get through.

Aphids

They may be small, yet you should never underestimate the aphid. The majority of aphids will feed on the foliage, stems and flowers of a variety of flowers, but there are others that will suck the sap directly from the roots.

With over 500 different species of aphids in the UK, which means that a huge amount of plants are at risk and it can leave them distorted or weak as they grow.

You can choose to treat aphids both chemically and non-chemically. If you choose not to use chemicals then ladybirds, hoverfly larvae, and parasitic wasps are the natural predators of aphids, however you should be aware that they can struggle to deal with a large infestation. If you decide that you need a little helping hand from chemicals, then there are a number of different sprays that will treat the aphid problem.

Vine Weevils

Vine Weevils love nothing more than munching on ornamental plants and fruits. In particular those that are grown in containers. They are a double threat as the adults eat the leaves of the plant and the grubs eat the roots.

One of the biggest problems with vine weevils is that if you stop the control measures that you have put in place, then the problem can soon build up again. Therefore whatever you choose to do, you need to carry it on. This could be as simple as inspecting your plants in the evening and picking off any adult weevils as you find them, or trapping them with sticky barriers that you place around pots, or as you enter the greenhouse.

These are just some of the pests that you can find in your garden. No matter which pest you are battling against, there is a way that you can beat them and keep your plants safe and secure and enjoy a pest free garden.