The Harmony That Is Your Garden
Choose the Right Plant for your Climate. Check your hardiness and heat zones carefully when planning your garden. Much as you may love a favorite plant you grew up with in another area, planting it in the wrong zone will cause it constant stress as it strives to exist in less-than-ideal conditions.
Fertilize Properly. Pests thrive on leaves and buds with high nitrogen levels and frequent fertilizing creates fast, lush growth -- just what those hungry pests are after. The more you fertilize, the "thirstier" the plant becomes. Learn how to read a fertilizer label -- use a slow release, organic fertilizer to benefit both the plant and the soil.
Provide the Right Amount of Water. Know what moisture levels your plants need. Both over- and under-watering stress plants and make them more vulnerable to pest attacks. Either condition can result in yellowing leaves.
Prune Correctly. Dead wood can be removed anytime. Live branches should be minimally pruned, except during the dormant season. Pruning can stimulate growth, producing that lush new foliage so attractive to many pests like aphids.
Use the Least Toxic Method of Control. Decide how much pest and disease damage you can tolerate in your garden before it becomes unacceptable or annoying. A few holes in the leaves on your roses may not be reason to call out the pesticide brigade. When you do see some damage on a plant, try to determine exactly what's causing it, and how serious it is. Only when you understand the source of the problem, can you choose the most effective treatment. For example, will you handpick or hose spray the aphids off your new rose growth? Frequent pesticide use may eventually create resistance in the very pests you're trying to eliminate.
Plant to Attract Good Bugs Beneficial insects, such as lady beetles (ladybugs), green lacewings, parasitic wasps and syrphid flies will feed on the harmful insects that may be damaging your plants. The larvae (immature stage) of the beneficial insects generally provide the best pest control because they are the hungriest. The larvae of syrphid flies eat over sixty aphids in a day! Create a favorable environment for these good bugs by minimizing the use of pesticides and including plants like yarrow, cosmos, coriander, sweet alyssum and dill in your garden to attract the beneficials.
Monitor What's Happening in your Garden. Stroll through your graden frequently and examine the leaves -- don't forget the undersides -- and
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