More Simple Green Ideas for Yard and Garden Pest Control

No extra special ingredients required here - just a few tips for helping mother nature do her thing.

Ladybugs, Praying Mantis, Dragonflies - all eat mites and aphids; mantis also eat caterpillars, beetles, and crickets; dragonflies eat mosquitoes (ladybugs are drawn to certain plants - cilantro, coreopsis and scented geranium to name a few, dragonflies are drawn to water gardens)

Toads and Turtles - consume cut worms, aphids and flies (attract these garden good guys by placing an old box or board in a damp, shady part of the garden)

Bats, Purple Martins, Swallows - feed on all kinds of flying insects (encourage these good guys to stick around by installing bird houses and bat houses)

Here are several homemade recipes for preventing fungus such as powdery mildew or blackspot on perennials. The emphasis here is on prevention. That means these methods are meant to be used before you notice a fungal infection.

All-Purpose Recipe:

1tsp. baking soda
few drops Trounce or 2 drops liquid soap
2 cups water

Mix and spray generously on plants. Repeat every two weeks.

Also try:

• Spray roses and new seedlings with a “tea” made of ground cinnamon.
• Steep and cool chamomile tea (4 tea bags in 2 cups water), spray new seedlings to prevent “damping off”.

Heat and humidity in mid summer are key contributors to the development of fungus. Perennials prone to fungus should be spaced in a way that promotes air circulation.

Some perennials that are susceptible to powdery mildew are: Garden Phlox and Bergamot (Bee Balm)

Black Spot typically strikes roses.

Are you looking for simple, natural ways to control harmful insects in your garden and home? Here are a couple of recipes for insect treatments that might work for you:

Insect/Pest Repellents

All-Purpose Insect Spray

2 garlic bulbs
1 onion
1 Tbsp. cayenne pepper
1 quart water

Blend together and steep for 1 hour. Then strain and add 1 Tbsp liquid soap. Store in the fridge for up to a week. Spray generously on plants.

Aphid & Slug Spray

3 Tbsp. soap flakes or 3 - 6 Tbsp. liquid soap mixed into 1 Gallon water.
Spray on plants.

When I was a kid, my mother used to throw the pan of soapy dishwater onto the rosebushes. We seldom had aphids and we did have beautiful roses.

Control Methods for Specific Insects/Pests

For specific insect problems, you could try some of these “green” ideas.

Fleas

Scatter walnut leaves (in the doghouse)

Mosquitoes

Empty/cover containers that allow water to sit.

Spray area with 1 quart water mixed with 1 cup lemon-scented ammonia

Slugs

Water with cool coffee.

Sprinkle coffee grounds on soil under plants.

Spray leaves and soil with mix of 10 parts water and 1 part ammonia

Earwigs

Set out mix of equal parts canola oil and soya sauce in shallow dish.

Lay pieces of corrugated cardboard on soil, collect and crush in morning

Aphids/Whiteflies

Set out shallow dish with yellow colored water and few drops of vegetable oil.

Boil 6 rhubarb leaves in 3 quarts water, cool, strain and spray on plants.

Hang yellow cardboard squares coated with petroleum jelly, honey or molasses.

Fungus Gnats

Pour a few drops of vegetable oil in the sink drain at night.

Carpenter Ants

Mix 1 part Borax with 2 parts icing sugar and set where you see signs of sawdust.

Wasps

Deter by hanging a stuffed brown paper bag in a tree.

Cut the curved top off a pop bottle and invert it over the bottom part; pour in a mix of 1oz Grenadine syrup, few drops dish soap and 1 cup water.

Fruit Flies

Set out a small glass of apple cider.

Put a piece of banana in a small jar, cover with plastic wrap, poke 5 holes with a toothpick in plastic and set on counter (replace often)

Have you been busy with all those spring chores around the house - with your hands in and out of water and cleaners? Are you getting caught up on all those dirty gardening jobs?

Now you have a special event planned, maybe even a well-deserved day at the beach, or you just need a little pampering. Here’s a quick method for helping your hardworking hands (and feet) to look and feel their best.

You can get your hands clean and soft with this home-made hand smoother. Mix a spoonful of granulated sugar with a little olive oil and massage in gently. Rinse with warm water and dry well.

For exfoliating heels and elbows try granulated sugar in a dab of vaseline.

No one will know you’ve just hung up your rake or dumped your scrub pail!

Spring is here and that means spring cleaning!

We have all become accustomed to using a variety of cleaners for numerous cleaning tasks around the house. They get the job done, but we know they may not be environmentally friendly. Why not try some “home-made” products that have been proven to work just as well as more expensive brand name products.

Two hard-working ingredients found in most homes:

Vinegar - a mild acid that dissolves scale and scum and inhibits mold
Baking Soda - slightly abrasive and a natural deodorizer

These two common household items when combined with some other simple ingredients are the foundation for creating effective, alternative cleaning solutions.

continue reading "Simple Green Idea #5 - Alternative Cleaning Products"

If you keep up with Doug Green, you’ll have read his recent post on Earth Hour. I’m doing my part by signing up and passing the word.

Australia got the ball rolling in 2007 and in the relatively short span of a year, Earth Hour has become a global movement.

Canada, along with many other countries around the world will be participating in this year’s Earth Hour on March 29, 2008. At 8:00 pm - throw the switch. Turn off your lights, tv, computer, everything for one hour. Hell, turn off your main circuit breaker. One hour without power will certainly not harm the contents of your fridge or freezer or your electricity bill.

I challenge you to sign up and join the movement!

Doesn’t it drive you nuts when you go to read your favorite magazine and as soon as you pick it up all those annoying subscription cards fall out! Not just one card and not just two cards, but often three or four. What is the point? We get it magazine publishers - you want us to subscribe, but wouldn’t one card suffice? Do you really need to bombard us with all that extra paper? The amount of paper used for subscription cards is one thing - the amount of paper used for the magazines themselves is something else entirely. Think about how many magazines are published, printed and distributed over the course of a year (each with those bothersome cards). That is a huge amount of paper.

In the very first SGI, my mom talked about how she had made it her goal to reduce the amount of plastic bags she brought home from the grocery store. Well, my goal is to reduce the amount of paper I bring into the home. Here’s how we can all do it:

continue reading "Simple Green Idea #4 - Get Magazines Digitally"

Hey, I’ve been doing something green for over a year without realizing it! When I ordered my laptop computer last year I was so excited I walked around for several weeks saying “Dude, I’m getting a Dell!”. Now I’m excited because that Dell (which I love, BTW) uses less power than a desktop - on average about 50 watts versus 120.

Thank you to STYLE AT HOME magazine’s April 2008 issue for pointing that out.

An extra thank you goes to Style At Home for providing references to multiple websites that we can all use to research before we buy new electronic purchases and other consumer products.

continue reading "Simple Green Idea #3 - Green Electronics"

Look what I found at the Dollar store! I remember my grandma used these kind of covers for storing leftovers in the fridge fifty years ago. I try to use containers that have their own matching lids, but sometimes you just can’t. In my efforts to not use plastic wrap or foil that will have to be discarded after use, I think these might just be the answer.

continue reading "Simple Green Idea #2"

We hear it everyday - the environment needs our help! Our governments are dealing with environmental issues in various ways and with varying degrees of success, but don’t you often wonder what you could do to help? I do. So, in an attempt to do my part, I gave myself a goal this year - to reduce the number of plastic bags I brought home from the grocery store. It’s a small step, but if more of us took these small steps, we could begin to make a big difference. It is my hope that some ’simple green ideas’ will remind us all to reduce, reuse and recycle. With that hope in mind, here is Simple Green Idea #1.

continue reading "Simple Green Ideas"