It's only natural: How to live with garden pests

When we think of a healthy, thriving and productive garden, we picture a smorgasbord of lush foliage, tasty fruits, ballooning veggies, dense herbs and fresh sprouts arising from rich soil.

What we often miss though, in our grand vision of a healthy garden, is room for the many and varied insects and pests that somewhat “belong” in the green sphere.

Whether invited or not – wherever you live – some sort of insect or animal pest will be attracted to your garden at some point, so it’s important to know what to allow residency and how to cohabit with them. 

Some pests will live permanently in your garden without causing an issue, flying under the radar by taking only a small share of the harvest.

Insect pests are part of the garden ecosystem and only become a problem when things get out of balance.

These smaller pests are food for other insects and small birds, doing their bit for biodiversity, so there’s no need to get out the insect killer and spray anything and everything that moves. 

A better approach is to figure out which insect is throwing things out of balance and do your best to reinstate that balance by going after that type of pest as directly as possible.

A garden with a variety of plants and healthy soil is key to maintaining balance and biodiversity, and naturally keeps insects and pests in check.

It’s a simple equation really – healthier soil means stronger plants that can fight off pests and disease. Hydration and fertiliser also provide them with the strength to do so. A diverse garden with a variety of plant species creates food and habitat layers for a wide range of welcome plants and animals and decreases the risk of them falling ill to an imbalance of pest life.  

Growing the right plants for the season, your climate and your garden’s position will also keep plants healthy and ward off pests and disease. Like us humans, stressed plants will succumb to illness more easily than their healthy counterparts.

If a particular plant isn’t thriving in your garden, cut your losses and find a better alternative. Native plants endemic to your local area will do better as they’ve evolved there, and, have therefore adapted to most of the pests.

After you’ve improved the soil, water and fertiliser, you can go about controlling insect pests with a number of organic methods. Start by checking the pH level of your soil to ensure your plants are getting the nutrient levels they need.

Try to identify what is happening to your plant to find the relevant product. Talking to your local green thumb at a nursery is always a great start. Eco oil sprays are a pretty good all-rounder to have for insects and Dipel is great for when the caterpillars are eating your kale!  

Proper pruning and maintenance techniques will also help reduce the likelihood of pests in your garden.

Ensure there’s plenty of light and airflow around your plants rather than overcrowding them and having them compete for resources. Prune off dead or diseased branches and keep soil mulched around plants. Remove old yellow or dead leaves from stems or trunks and always check what’s hiding on them. 

Growing edible plants indoors?

This is often fraught with heartache. Tiny mites, whitefly, aphids and many other lurking pests can prove quite the challenge as they have no natural biological control indoors. You may find spraying is the only answer.

Take your indoor plants outdoors when it rains to give them a nice clean and big drink – this should help to wash off any bugs before they take over.