18/07/2025
This is my one and only pest mitigation post for the season. I don’t spend much time on trying to get rid of insects as I’d not only rather focus on production, I don’t want to mess up the cycle of things. Most insects are food for other creatures so I try to work along side of them.
{Squirrels, on the other hand, need more predators in our neighborhood and have successfully eaten all my peaches this season😤}
But I digress, back to insects…
I DO use SOME controls. For instance, I will spray soapy (or just plain water)to remove the insects from leaves and I utilize sacrificial plants for preservation. In nearly every bed I have one or two nasturtiums and place them right by the sprinkler heads as they are not drought resistant. They attract flea beetles and aphids and keep those little suckers off the vegetables.
The Japanese beetles are every gardeners menace as they live to eat and mate, sometimes at the same time. They munch on my roses, marigolds, raspberries and apple tree leaves. If I’m bored, I’ll flick ‘em into a container of soapy water, which is quite satisfying, but doesn’t do much to reduce their prolific numbers.
Having lived now with their destruction the last 5 years I have decided to let them just have at it. They are here for about 8 weeks and are gone by mid-to-late August. The plants survive, typically putting on once last show before the season ends.
As for grasshoppers I have hail cloth over most of my beds and though they are not completely enclosed this seems to deter them.
I also try and create a welcoming habitat with large shrubs and trays of water for our feathered friends and lots of ladybug-friendly plants like sunflowers🌻
For more on flea beetle, Japanese beetle and grasshopper mitigation see links in bio.
