By Pat Dray
Pat Dray.
We often walk through our yards and gardens, see an insect or critter, and immediately wonder “How do I get rid of it?” The first thing to understand is what a pest is.
The simplest answer is that a pest is something that we don’t like – it’s something that annoys people or domestic animals – and can be an animal or insect. But no species is a pest all the time – even termites are “good” at times, because they help to keep the forest floor clear of dead wood by eating what is decaying.
The best way to manage pests is by prevention rather than by treatment. A great example of this is controlling deer damage in the garden. Although I love my hosta, I also know that they are a delicious salad bar for the deer. So rather than continue to plant hosta, I’ve planted Solomon’s seal, which is a deer-resistant understory plant.
Most insects will prefer one plant over another, so planting a preferred plant or sacrifice plant near what you want to grow can be effective. The “plant trap” will attract the insects away from your desired plants. For example, nasturtiums will attract aphids and whiteflies away from your tomatoes and other vegetables.
There are also many insects that are predators for specific pests. The ladybug is a hungry insect that feeds on aphids, mites and other small insects such as whiteflies. Ask that ladybug to stay in your garden and do pest control for you. Dragonflies love to eat mosquitoes, while praying mantises will eat just about any insect they can find. There are two plant types that will attract these welcome insects: those in the carrot family, such as Queen Anne’s lace, parsley, dill and fennel; and those in the sunflower or daisy family, such as marigolds, asters, coneflowers, sunflowers and zinnia.
Pests will also tend to invade plants that are already stressed, either by being planted in the wrong spot or by environmental circumstances such as drought, so consider plant care itself as a preventive method.
Let’s also give a shout out to our friends the reptiles and amphibians. Toads, for example, love slugs. You can create a toad house by placing an old terra cotta pot upside down in a damp, shady spot. Mr. Toad will move in, and the slugs will be his dinner feast.
Worms will help to aerate your soil, and the casings they leave behind add valuable organic material. The common black snake that we see here in Connecticut eats rodents and lizards.
One last garden friend is the often maligned possum. Possums are omnivores, which means they eat almost anything, from small rodents to insects. According to the National Wildlife Federation, a single possum can potentially eliminate 4,000 ticks in one week thanks to its extreme self-grooming. They are especially welcome here in Lyme country.
The right question, then, is: “Is this really a pest, or a welcome addition to my garden?”
Pat Dray is a past president of the Orange Garden Club.