By Bill Bergfeld

While tending your garden, one of the most frustrating things that can
happen is to walk outside to check on your plants and finding holes in
their leaves. They all looked fine only hours before so what’s the
problem? The explanation for some of these plant-destroying holes are
garden pests. Some of the main garden pests are slugs, worms,
caterpillars, birds, snails, and the occasional gopher. Although you can
never wipe out these pests entirely, you realize that after all your hard
work in the garden you must do something.

Insects are one of the worst things to have in your garden; they can live
under the soil, in old weeds or piles of leaves, or in any number of
other places. In order to help keep insects away, try to eliminate
places in or near your garden that these insects and other plant diseases
could be living. Remove old leaves, weeds, or any other decaying matter
that could harbor insects and diseases from your yard. Also, regularly
turn your garden soil and break apart any clumps of dirt in order to
eliminate the underground living spaces where insects might be hiding.

Another way to rid your garden of the pests is to use dormant oil spray,
which is formulated to keep destructive garden insects and diseases under
control. It goes without saying, use dormant oil spray when your plants
are dormant, usually around February or early March. Dormant oil spray
is only effective if you follow the application instructions. Make sure
you read the label carefully. Some insects are beneficial to your
garden, so be sure to your bugs before you treat your garden. Your local
Agriclutural Extension Service should have trained personnel on hand to
help you.

Another garden pest is birds. The safest solution to keep the birds away
from your garden is to put a bird feeder in a location away from your
garden plot. Birds will be more prone to eat at your feeder instead of
your garden. In the long run, the money you save in your garden will
offset the expense of the feeder and the bird seed. Another solution is
to use the old tried and true “scare crow”. Also, plastic “owl”
manequins placed strategically atop posts around your garden will deter
bird feeding. Not only can a bird feeder, a scare crow, and some owl
manequins help keep birds away from your garden, they can also become
a new part of your yard decoration. And last but not least, don’t
forget that cats are natural predators for birds and they do a great
job of keeping them out of the garden area.

If you start seeing mounds of dirt around your yard, and your plants keep
unexplainably dieing, you undoubtedly have a gopher problem. Gophers
are rodents, five to fourteen inches long. Their fur can be black, light
brown, or white, and they have small tails. One method of getting rid of
these root-eating pests is to set traps. The key to successfully
trapping a gopher is to locate the gopher’s tunnels and set the trap
correctly. Another way to get rid of them is to use smoke bombs or
gopher gassers. You must place them inside the tunnel hoping that the
smoke spreads through channels ultiimately reaching the gopher. Treated
grains and peanuts are also available for gopher problems, but they
should never be used in or near your garden.

In the long run, you can keep your garden healthier, longer if you just
check it regularly and use proper pest elimination techniques when
necessary. The longer you ignore garden problems, the more your harvest
will suffer.