Increasingly there is concern about the use of pesticides in our gardens, concerns on what this exposure does to our health and concerns on what exposure to pesticides can do to the wider environment.
Many gardens are opting for a more natural approach to pest control in the garden.
This change has been brought about not only because of the aforementioned concerns about the health of us and the planet, but also due to a reduction in available products for gardeners to use.
Over the number of years there has been a gradual reduction in over the counter pesticides due to changes in EU legislation covering their approved uses and changes to licensing on the active ingredients themselves.
Many gardeners have now changed focus and rather than seeking a chemical cure are now working with biological controls to reduce pest problems in the garden.
Put simply a Biological control is using one animal to control another, an example would be using Ladybirds to control Greenfly.
Research on this topic has expanded greatly over the past few years and so has the availability of various Biological controls for the home gardener to utilise.
In addition to Ladybirds to control Greenfly, you can also get Biological controls for pests such as Vine Weevil, Leatherjackets, Caterpillars, Slugs and more.
However these many not be easily sourced over-the-counter from your local garden centre, and you’ll need to shop online, such sites as MrMiddleton.com and HarrodHorticultural.com offer a selection.
These Biological products are very effective, as long as they are applied at the correct time of year.
For example the best time to apply Namasys to control Vine Weevil is now – as the hunt out any grubs which have over-wintered in your pots around the house, and then apply again in the Autumn to catch any grubs which have hatched this year.
The joy of using such controls is that your or other peoples enjoyment of the plants or produce isn’t restricted whilst a synthetic chemical is applied, you don’t need to avoid touching or eating the produce after a Biological control, you don’t have to worry about protective masks and things for yourself when you’re applying them… and you don’t have to worry about pollution to the environment… blue snow with slug pellets anyone?
For slug control you’ll definitely enjoy using Nemaslug – this microscopic worm lives on fungi in the soil, but in turns enters the slug through its air hole, and then sets about releasing loads of bacteria into the slug, killing the slug in the end. And when this worm has finished with one slug it lives in the soil and then goes hunting out more slugs, so as long as the soil is damp and warm they keep on hunting!
So think less chemical warfare and more biological controls for the garden this year!
