Last Updated on April 1, 2020 by Kimberly Crawford
During the warm summer months, you want to be able to enjoy your garden or back yard. Unfortunately, there are a variety of unwanted garden pests that can play havoc with all your hard work like your tidy lawn and flourishing flower beds.
In this article, we look at a couple of the most common garden pests and what you can do to reduce or prevent them from making a mess of your outside space.
Garden snails
Garden snails are an inevitable part of the garden environment and, at the same time, one of the more destructive pests likely to invade and disturb your plants, herbs, and even your vegetable growing plans. They might be a tricky pest to deal with, but there certainly are many ways to reduce their numbers and protect your precious back yard assets.
You’ll undoubtedly have heard of the salt method. Both snails and slugs are indeed vulnerable to common table salt, but it doesn’t solve the root cause, and it certainly isn’t the kindest way to deal with the little tinkers. Other common methods of dealing with snails include snail and slug pellets. While this may have some effect, it can be equally destructive to your garden ecosystem; birds might also be tempted to eat slug pellets, and ultimately this will poison them.
Instead, try some of these natural methods. Snails love the smell (and maybe the taste) of beer, who doesn’t? If you bury a bowl in the ground near your snail hotspots, preferably in the vicinity of the plants you are trying to protect, and fill it with beer, nearby snails will find it irresistible. Unfortunately for the snails, this is the end of the journey as they will not be able to get back out; but there are worse ways to go than death by beer.
Another natural deterrent for your potted plants and herb planters is to rub a bit of Vaseline around the rim of your pots. Snails can’t get any purchase on the Vaseline, so they won’t be able to get into your pots.
Moles – the hole digging menace
Arguably even more destructive than snails are the famous garden pests, moles. Part of a group of garden terrorizing rodents that can include ground squirrels and voles, moles can lay waste to a neat lawn almost overnight. Prolific breeders, once they are in your space, they can be extremely hard to control. If you find you have a serious mole problem, by far, the most efficient way to deal with it is to seek the services of a pest control expert to take care of the situation professionally; pest control in VA is an excellent example of a very experienced team.
To stem the tide until the professionals reach you, you could try the following natural strategy. Moles are naturally very noise sensitive, and anything that might be the sound of an encroaching predator will put them off from hanging out in your yard.
Try digging six-inch holes in your garden and burying empty bottles in them, leaving the tops a couple of inches from the surface. As wind passes over the bottle tops, it will make enough sound to deter the moles from your garden and encourage them to relocate somewhere else. Worth a try!
