Gardener reveals her simple secret to a pest-free garden without chemicals
Keen gardener Sue Wilson is also a professor in environmental pollution at the University of New England, so if anyone knows when to use chemicals on their plants, it’s her.
While chemicals can be beneficial in the right situation, she said they’re being overused and can cause damage to our gardens and the flora and fauna in them.
Sue Wilson has spent 15 years developing her garden into a haven for native animals and pollinators. Supplied
“Certain chemicals are really accumulating in areas where they shouldn't,” she told nine.com.au.
“They can harm the ecology in our gardens and lower the biodiversity, kill beneficial organisms in the gardens, and make the gardens less productive and less diverse with the plants and animals that we see in them.
“It’s really worth pulling back on only using chemicals where it’s absolutely critical to use them, and allowing nature’s pest managers to help us to reduce our pest load in the gardens and make them more productive.”
There are plenty of natural ways to stop creepy crawlies like aphids, caterpillars, snails and slugs, and the main one Wilson recommends will make your garden more beautiful.
“The first thing to do is to just let nature's predators do their job in terms of getting rid of the pests for you. So, for example, things like ladybirds are fantastic at eating aphids and caterpillars. Birds and lizards, too, will eat pest grubs through your plants,” she said.
“So you’ve got to improve your garden habitat – that’s the first thing that I’ve done in my garden – to allow nature’s predators to flourish. Planting a nice range of native vegetation is one prime example, and flowering plants to attract the pollinators, too, to make your plants reproduce well and stronger.”
Frogs, lizards and beetles also eat pests, so installing a pond and having areas with rocks and logs with holes encourages them to make a home in your yard.
“It’s actually good in your garden to tolerate some degree of pests, because all these native pest controllers need to have a food supply,” Wilson said.
Keeping chickens is another way to reduce the number of pests and improve your soil at the same time as they eat grubs and produce manure.
Wilson has spent the past 15 years doing these things in her own garden by adding native and flowering plants, and it’s paid off with a beautiful, thriving yard that attracts native birds and pollinators.
“I have to say, it’s my greatest joy to just sit and watch all that different diversity in my garden now, which, to be honest, when I first bought my house, was completely barren. Just seeing, hearing the bees, seeing lizards on the rocks and knowing they’re doing good in my garden and helping me with my pest control, but they give me joy,” she said.
“Over about 15 years I’ve built up native garden beds. I just wanted it for the birds, but now we have birds nesting through all the bushes, and you can see them breeding, and also ladybirds and pollinators, and I can see the ladybirds eating the aphids on my roses, which is even better.”
For anyone with a balcony or small courtyard space, there is still plenty you can do to naturally deal with pests, including growing native plants in pots or containers to attract birds and beneficial insects.
Native plants like white Shady Lady waratahs and yellow broad leaf drumstick flowers help encourage native birds and pollinators to your garden to help control pests. iStockphoto
Crushed eggshells make a brilliant chemical-free deterrent for slugs and snails. iStockphoto
One option for preventing slugs and snails from munching on your plants is crushing eggshells and scattering them on the soil. This deters them because it’s uncomfortable for them to slither over the eggshells. If you don’t have any eggs handy, you can also do this with coffee grounds as snails and slugs don’t like touching that either.
Another way to get rid of slugs is to set up a trap with some beer in a shallow pot. Put that on your plant container or garden bed and the slugs will be attracted to the beer and then drown in the pot.
“You have to be careful you don't overdo it, be mindful, but that works pretty well,” Wilson said.
For aphids, there is a spray you can make with water and a small amount of dishwashing liquid, but Wilson warned “you should test it [on your plants], just check, and don’t spray it on when it’s really sunny”.
If possums are eating your veggie garden or decorative plants you can try a chilli and garlic spray, which you can make yourself at home.
“You have to be mindful of what plants that you use it on and wash them after you've used it, but that can deter pests on your plants as well, too,” she said.
Before you start trying sprays and things to deter possums, consider whether your yard is set up in a way that’s easy for them to get in.
“What you’ve really got to do is remove food sources they can get at and that attract them to your garden, and any overhanging branches that they can swing into your area as well – that’s a good deterrent, too, if they can’t get in.”
