Many animals-including deer-have a sense of taste that makes them choose some plants (usually our most expensive nursery plants!) over others, just as we would go for a gourmet meal over a fast food snack. However, if they run into something that looks good but tastes bad, they become conditioned to avoid it. Selectively treating the plants that show browsing damage with a foul tasting but non-toxic product like Deer Off(r) turns away deer after one bite. Other products like Ropel(r) work in a similar manner with a wide variety of animals including raccoons, rats, beaver, cats, rabbits, and woodpeckers.
Trap smaller garden pests-like slugs and wasps-by appealing to their instinctual search for food. Bait slug traps like the Slug X with beer to lure these plant eaters to a quick demise. Various wasp traps are available that can be baited with fruit juices or meat depending on the type of wasp.
Keep certain pests in check by encouraging natural predators to take up residence in your garden. Although not as fast acting as chemicals, you can increase the health and diversity of your garden by attracting predators that feed on the insects that ruin your plants. Often you only need to provide shelter for beneficial bugs and animals to attract them and retain their services. Toads, ladybugs and bats are a few of the most voracious eaters, which will patrol your garden if you provide the house.
The toad's menu includes a variety of bugs, including slugs, cutworms, and gypsy moth larvae that harm garden plants. Mostly active during the cooler hours and at night, they search for a spot out of the sun during the day. A variety of decorative toad houses can be purchased, or you can provide a cool moist spot for toads with an overturned, broken terra cotta pot that has a small opening for entrance and exit.
Ladybugs in the garden will quickly get rid of the aphids that they feed on. You can encourage ladybugs to stick around and overwinter by providing a suitable shelter like the Ladybug Village. For a quick start with a serious aphid infestation, you can buy packages of thousands of farm-raised ladybugs for release in the garden.
Bats patrol the night sky, eating mosquitoes and flying insects that can damage your plantings. As your gardens already provide a supply of bugs to attract bats, how can you encourage bats to take up residence? Just put up a house designed to the specifications of Bat Conservation International.
The high tech revolution has brought advances to the garden as well as the home. Motion detecting sensors can tell when an animal has entered an area you wish to protect and set off an alarm to annoy or frighten the intruder until it leaves.
Electronic pest repellers emit high frequency sounds designed to annoy animals from deer and raccoons to dogs and moles and drive them off. These pest repellers are easy to set up, requiring just a source of electricity and a mounting post. A wide variety of electronic repellers are available, ranging from ones that can be used indoors on mice to larger waterproofed ones that can be tuned to different frequencies depending on the pest you want to repel.
Even the scarecrow has gone high tech in the Scarecrow Sprinkler. A motion sensor detects when an animal has come to raid your garden and startles it with an unexpected, but harmless, spray of water. On duty day and night, the Scarecrow hooks up to your garden hose for easy portability as different sections of your gardens need protection.
Hopefully this quick overview of natural pest control methods has piqued your interest. Start using them today to make your garden and the environment a safer place. And be sure you dispose of your old chemicals safely by calling your local waste authority.
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