Chemical-free way to deal with bugs

OUR garden and the great outdoors in general is for us to enjoy and to appreciate and, depending on your slant, you may be enjoying a glass of vino al fresco on the decking, or your garden may be more productive with raised beds producing organic fruit and veg for you and the family.

The garden is home to myriad wildlife and beneficial insects. We are nearly programmed to think of all insects as bad and needing to be killed, but not every bug in your garden is a bad bug. Some creepy crawlies are in fact eating the bugs that are eating your plants and thus improving your garden. Knowing which ones to nurture and which ones to try and control can help you to cut down on the use of sprays that are harmful to the environment.

The food chain begins with the garden in more ways than just growing vegetables. All insects are an important part of the natural food chain in your garden for other wildlife to feed on. By keeping toxic chemicals out of your garden, you allow the beneficial wildlife to make an appearance because more often than not, these good guys are also affected by the pesticides that are marketed purely on our fear of greenfly or other aphids.

There was great news in Europe recently with banning of certain Neonicotinoids from use in agriculture and in gardens, as they were seriously damaging the bee population. Without the bees the world would quickly starve.

It’s no longer the imposition that it was before to have these chemicals removed from our gardens, as over the last few years there have been fantastic developments in biological controls for insect pests. These work by introducing other living organisms, such as parasitic wasps, nematodes and other insects to the garden. Let me encourage you this year to introduce Supernemos to your garden for a chemical-free yet pest-free environment.

I have been using this method successfully for the last few years and I can’t say enough about it. The main problem pest that it controls is the dreaded vine weevil, however it will also control scarid fly, strawberry root weevil; chafer grubs; leather jackets; wireworms; cut worms and cabbage worm.

Here are some other tips to make your garden a more environmentally sound patch: Use ornamental plants that provide a food source over a long period. Include nectar- and pollen-rich plants for bees, butterflies and other flower-visiting insects, and fruiting trees and shrubs for mammals and birds. Create a log pile to benefit insects, fungi, birds, and hedgehogs.

Leave some plants uncut throughout winter to provide seeds for food and shelter to birds and other creatures. A water feature without fish, (a washing-up bowl set into the ground will do), will enable frogs to spawn. They will return the favour by eating slugs and snails. Turning part of your lawn into a wildflower meadow will provide food and shelter for wildlife of all kinds Attract bats and hedgehogs by providing specially built boxes comfortable enough for hibernation. Put out a variety of nuts, seeds and fat snacks to attract birds when natural food sources are scarce. They will at the same time eat the bugs and aphids on apple trees.

Ivy, honeysuckle and clematis and other climbers along with hedges offer shelter and potential nesting places for birds and over-wintering sites for butterflies And lastly avoid spraying pesticides so that the good guys have a chance to settle into your garden.