Keep Critters out

Your garden is no place for critters. You may enjoy a leisurely stroll with the family cat, but you won't be amused with his leavings. Dogs can trample a seed-bed faster than anything short of the neighbor's children, especially if you are out walking with the cat. Wild animals from deer to raccoon can do even more damage, because they are intentionally after your produce.

The most effective way to keep wayward wildlife from your garden is to erect a fence. Fencing materials are certainly not cheap, but a well-constructed fence will serve for years. Woven wire, poultry netting, or welded wire will keep out most neighborhood pets and pests. The bottom of the wire should be buried below soil level if rabbits are a problem. Foil persistent gophers by lining planting beds with fine mesh fencing. A fence up to 8 feet high is necessary to prevent deer from jumping over. Leave approximately the top 18 inches of the wire unattached to any support. This wobbly fence discourages such climbing critters as raccoon, porcupine, and opossum.

In lieu of expensive fencing you may first want to try some of the many intriguing animal repellents available. Forget the store-bought solutions and whip up your own thrifty alternatives. Here are a few suggestions:

® Hair clippings from the local barbershop scattered around the garden scare off critters that fear the ominous odor of humans. A few articles of really smelly dirty laundry, left about the garden at night will also deter many wild animals, including deer, raccoons, and rabbits.

® A sulfurous odor can be created by cracking a few eggs and letting set until pungent. The strong scent repels deer.

® Dried blood meal scattered around plants keeps away deer, ground squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, and woodchucks.

® Hot peppers, garlic, vinegar, and water mixed with a squirt of dishsoap and pureed in a blender deters large nibblers as well as insect pests from tasting any garden fare on which it has been sprayed.
® Ammonia. Ironically, the nasty smell of rags soaked in ammonia repels skunks and rats.

® Beer. Set out a shallow tray of beer to lure and drown slugs. To be truly frugal, use cheap beer.

® Repellent plants. Gopher spurge, (Euphorbia lathyrus) repels gophers, with varying degrees of success. Castor oil plant, which is highly toxic, also repels them. Both have some effectiveness against moles. Plant garlic, onions, or ornamental alliums to deter woodchucks. Plant garden rue to discourage cats.

Protect against Birds

For the most part birds are very beneficial to the garden. They are wonderful insect predators, especially in the spring when they need a supply of protein to feed their young. But hungry birds also can take a toll on freshly sown seeds, tender seedlings and luscious fruits and berries. You may need one or more of the following controls:

® Netting is an important barrier to birds and some small animals. It is an absolute necessity with expensive berry crops, such as blueberries and strawberries. To keep greedy beaks away from berries, support netting on a framework several inches from the plants. Peeled poles or scrap lumber make inexpensive, rusticlooking frames. Handled carefully, netting will last indefinitely.

® Plastic berry baskets, panty hose, cheesecloth, salvaged window screening, and other no-cost finds also work to create handy bird deterrents. Fasten any of these to a wire tomato cage for an individual plant protector.

® Wire or fishing line, stretched between row markers over newly planted seeds, makes an inexpensive bird repellent. As birds approach for a landing they are snagged by theunseen lines and quickly retreat to safer ground.

® Scarecrows are cute but ineffective. Don't spend a cent on one.

Encourage Beneficial Organisms

The use of beneficial organisms in the home garden is hardly new. If you think of Adam and Eve as the original garden pests, look at the effectiveness of one snake. Actually, snakes are wonderful, free rodenticides. They patrol for ground-level mice, shrews, bugs, and slugs. In return they need an accessible water source, maybe a nice, flat rock on which to sun themselves, and not to be run over by a lawn mower.

Bats are another fine addition to any garden. Bats consume many times their own weight of flying insects over the course of the gardening season. Persuade them to roost near your garden by putting in a little bat condo. Commercially made bat houses are available, or construct one yourself.

Birds are valuable bug-eaters. They will reward your thoughtfulness with years of dedicated service. Provide them with a bird bath, some cover in the form of bushes or trees, a small house or two, and perhaps a free meal every now and then.

Toads are underappreciated assets in the garden; they guzzle bugs daily. Encourage their presence with a damp, shady spot for them to hide in during hot, dry weather. A board propped up over a puddle is toad heaven.

Predatory and parasitic insects prey on other bugs for free, and unless you garden in a vacuum, they usually come with the garden. Be careful not to annihilate them with broad-spectrum chemical pesticides.

Beneficial organisms, from barely visible mites to 6-inch-tall praying mantises, are available to work in your garden. You can purchase them, but your money would be better spent encouraging existing, native populations. The trouble with many store-bought bugs is they are disloyal, and will probably leave.

Plant flowering herbs, such as thymes, mints, rosemary, sage, and dill for beneficial adult insects to eat. Or entice them by interplanting your crops with daisies, petunias, cosmos, nasturtiums, marigolds, and sunflowers. Provide a water source. The lingering dew on plant leaves is often sufficient; the constant moisture provided by drip irrigation is ideal. Most important, don't spray pesticides. Welcome the beneficials that occur naturally in your garden.

Disposing of Pesticides

Many states set up regular hazardous waste pick-up stations at designated times and places. Always dispose of unused pesticides, as well as paints, solvents, and other chemicals, at designated stations. Most disposal sites provide an exchange service on site. If you need a pesticide or other chemical, you can pick up someone else's castoff for free. Contact your local state department that handles hazardous waste disposal for details of procedures in your area.

Use Pesticides Conservatively

Sometimes a barrier isn't the answer. You wouldn't want to drape a cover over a rose bush or shimmy up an apple tree with a bolt of cheesecloth. There are situations when you need to spray a pesticide.

Many plants look or produce much better if kept on a regular spray schedule. Fruit trees in particular yield more fruit if maintained this way. This should be an important consideration in the decision to plant home fruit trees.

What you spray depends on several factors, one of which is your budget. Chemical pesticides are expensive in more ways than one. Research has determined toxins, once commonly used in the garden, can cause a range of ills from birth defects to cancers. Accidental ingestion by pets and children occurs every year, with tragic results. Toxins also wipe out beneficial insects, such as bees and ladybugs. And misapplication of chemical pesticides often results in plant damage.

As with the misuse of chemical fertilizers, the biggest problem home gardeners have with pesticides is over-application. Always follow label instructions to the letter. These are not mere recommendations, they are lawit is illegal to misuse pesticides.

Each product lists what insects it is effective against and on which plants it is safe to use. A general pesticide with a wide range of applications, such as Orthene or diazinon, will handle most problems of home gardeners.

Organic pesticides, such as botanically derived rotenone, pyre-thrum, ryania, and sabadilla are good substitutes for environmentally concerned gardeners. They pose less threat of environmental damage because they break down quickly, and will not leave any long-term residues. Other examples of non-toxic pesticides are horticultural oil sprays that coat and suffocate small bugs such as scale, and diatomaceous earth, which kills bugs at or beneath ground level when worked into the soil. Many organic pesticides, unfortunately, kill indiscriminately, wiping out pests and beneficial organisms alike.

Some of the most promising pest-control products are ones that cause diseasegenerating pest-specific disease organisms that spring to life like sea monkeys when mixed with water. They only harm the bug for which they are intended. Some examples include several forms of the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), marketed under various brand names and effective at battling caterpillars and Colorado potato beetles; Nosema locustae, sold as Grasshopper Attack, which is a grasshopper disease that prevents successive generations; and Bacillus popilliae, or milky spore disease, that wipes out Japanese beetles.

Physically preventing bugs from touching your plants

One of the best methods to prevent insect damage is physically preventing bugs from touching plants. Several methods work well depending on the plant and the insect. All methods mentioned are very effective and reasonably inexpensive when done properly.
Row covers are sheets of spun-bonded polypropylene that can be draped over food crops to eliminate insect problems. They are lightweight enough to drop directly onto most crops, or you can create a frame for the covering by bending PVC pipe or bamboo sticks. (Cheap tip: You can even grow useful bamboo stakes yourself.) The fabric stands between the bug and its meal. It allows most available sunlight and water to pass through freely and protects from wind, hail, slight frost, and windborne weed seeds, as well as bugs, birds, and small animals.

It is critical to cover the crops early, before bugs get to them, which is when planting or transplanting them. A sprinkling of inexpensive diazinon or diatomaceous earth raked into the soil will kill any current soil-dwelling inhabitants. This is important for direct seeded melons, a special favorite of cutworms. Leave enough slack in the fabric to allow for the eventual growth of the plants, and anchor the fabric along the edges with dirt or planks. This is very important, because not only might it blow away but also the idea is to prevent bugs from getting to the plant, and they crawl through the smallest spaces. Lift the cover occasionally to monitor a plant's progress.

Covers are most convenient for plants that will not flower for harvest, such as carrots or broccoli. Covers will work for plants that flower, such as cucumbers, as long as you remove the covers in time for pollination to occur.

Treat these fabric covers with respect to get your money's worth. Work cautiously around them, a careless swing of the hoe will tear the fabric. Never walk on them, always go around. Don't drive stakes through them as anchors. Fabric anchored by stakes will not always keep out bugs anyway, and the stakes will cause rips. Cut the fabric down to a size you can handle easily. You will run less risk of damaging the fabric while you are working with it. Above all else, fold or roll up fabric covers at the end of the season and store them. Don't just drop them in a pile on the floor of the garden shed, since mice find them irresistible for winter housing.
and organic protection, use a stem collar. Stiff paper or cardboard are often recommended, but one of the best and cheapest substitutes I have found is a plastic drinking straw. Salvage used straws, and cut them into 1 1/2-inch long pieces. Slit the pieces up one side, pull the plastic apart and fit around the stem of each transplant. Push the plastic down into the soil, and you have a plastic barrier no cutworm can chomp or climb.

Stem collars protect tender transplants from cutworm damage. Cutworms are underground caterpillar-like bugs. They will devastate beans, broccoli, cantaloupe, and a vast array of other plants with equal zeal. They are especially prevalent in new gardens freshly dug from sod or areas filled with weeds. A dash of diazinon or diatomaceous earth will eliminate those present at application. But for continuing

Rotate Crops

Many diseases and soilborne insects that attack plants remain in the soil even after you harvest the crop. They wait there to reinfest susceptible plants. If you plant the same crop or a closely related one in that site a disease or insect will probably attack the new planting. Prevent this needless loss by rotating your crops each year. The practice costs nothing and could save a lot.

Crop rotation requires only a little planning. If you plant tomatoes in one bed this year, then don't plant tomatoes or a related crop in the same bed for the next two years. If possible, it is best to let at least three years pass before planting where the same or related crop grew before.