Why Don't We Use Pesticides In Our Garden?

In a home garden setting, we feel it is completely unnecessary to use pesticides. They are usually a waste of money and pose risks we just aren't prepared to take. Many pesticides are extremely hazardous chemicals and we feel that there are far better ways we can deal with 'pests' in our gardens. In this blog, we'll outline the dangers, the alternatives and hopefully offer a more thoughtful take than “Something is eating my plants - they must die!”

Pesticides are poison

… and poisoned bugs create poisoned food for other animals.

Not only can they kill 'pests' and other wildlife, they could be a danger to you, your children and your pets if you aren't extremely careful. Pesticides will kill many types of insects, not just the ones you want off your tomatoes. They can also leave a harmful residue on the plant that will stick around for a long time, just waiting for an unsuspecting pollinator visiting the flowers to collect nectar.

Unfortunately pesticides aren't selective, weedkillers won't just kill weeds and ant killer won't just kill ants, it could also kill beetles and other small insects many of which can play an important role in your garden.

‘Pests' are part of the food chain and the natural cycle of our gardens, birds will eat aphids and hedgehogs will feast on caterpillars. It really is best if you take a 'live and let live' attitude to your garden. It's not a coincidence that bird breeding season is perfectly timed with the abundance of bugs and insects in our gardens, it's the food for their young. If you kill or poison all that food you could be doing harm to your garden and the nature around you. It's important sometimes to take a step back and let nature do its thing, if you lose a few tomatoes or flowers it's not the end of the world and if you intend to eat any of those tomatoes or flowers then it really is best not to introduce pesticides to those plants or anywhere else in your garden.

Don't waste your money!

In this case we believe hard work is better than throwing money at a problem. Tend your plants daily (or as often as you can) and monitor pest problems. I like to keep a little note book so I can keep track of what I see. Many 'pest' problems will take care of themselves if given some time and might introduce some new birds or other wildlife to your garden. Most weeds can be dealt with by hand, or you can just learn to live with them and enjoy them. Dandelions are excellent nectar and pollen source for bees in the spring. Some weedkillers can be particularly dangerous for both our own health and that of our pets. Rather than getting annoyed with these little pests, try to treat it as a lesson in nature and enjoy watching nature at work; if it's becoming a slightly more serious invasion then there are non-chemical steps you can take to keep the bugs at bay!

Alternatives to pesticides.

There are so many alternatives to pesticides, you could write a book on it (actually I'm sure lots of people have!) and most gardeners will have their own tricks and tips. Some actually sound a little crazy but if they work for you in your garden then that's all that matters! Some of the most common ones are putting copper pipes or copper tape around plants to keep slugs away, crushed egg shells, straw, or plastic bottles. Online garden forums and Facebook groups are great for finding out different methods to try. This may take some time because you need to use a trial and error approach to see what works in your garden. If you enjoy gardening though, I'm sure you can treat it as a fun adventure!

You can also try encouraging the natural predators of any specific pest into the area. Slugs are a tasty snack for many bird species, so by attracting more birds into your garden they should limit the slug numbers dramatically. Why not add a bird table and a bird bath near the problem area?

You might still get a little slug damage but this is fine. We are not trying to wipe slugs off the face of the earth (or from our garden entirely) but just trying to control them to protect our plants and vegetables from a lot of serious damage. Learn to tolerate some 'pests' as they are all part of a natural and healthy garden.

Many plants are also far more resilient than you might imagine, I've had young plants almost completely destroyed (or so I thought) by caterpillars. Only for a few months later to see them growing healthy and bigger than they were the year before. Nature can be a curious and wonderful thing sometimes, so it's worth letting it play out to see what happens before we are panicked into taking action.

Polycultures are best!

This simply means growing a variety of plants all mixed together, as opposed to a monoculture where you have rows and rows of the same thing. When it comes to our gardens diversity is often the key.

Planting flowers between rows of vegetables can attract hoverflies to collect nectar, the larvae of which are big aphid eaters! The scent of marigold flowers is also said to discourage vegetable eating insects. While you can research this deeply and plant specifically and accordingly to what you have in your garden, it's really easy and simple to just mix things up so you don't get a mass insect free-for-all on a large monoculture. Keep it diverse and plant each area with a wide mix of plants and flowers, that way there will be far less chance that things will turn into a big problem or require your intervention.

Natural and organic pesticides.

A word of caution: While it's true that natural and organic pesticides will usually have a much lower impact on the environment. They are still pesticides by definition, it doesn't really matter that Neem Oil comes from organic seeds and is naturally occurring (or whatever else people will say), the truth is that it is toxic to the developing larvae of many insects, including butterflies, it can reduce insect feeding and stop immature insects from maturing properly. Many 'natural' pesticides can do just as much damage to your garden, the insects and other creatures as synthetic ones can. We would urge caution and do not think just because something is labelled as 'natural' or 'organic' that it's a good idea to spray it all over your garden.

In Conclusion: Key Points.

It's important to remember that most pesticides don't discriminate. They will not only kill your target but it's very likely that it will also harm all sorts of other wildlife, including ones you might actually want in your garden! They could be harmful to your pets or children too.

It's good to have some of these 'pests' around, no aphids means no food for ladybirds (and who doesn't love ladybirds!?)

As you might expect bee health is always a primary concern for us, those buzzy little pollinators can be seriously damaged by the use of some garden pesticides.

We've covered edible flowers twice in our blogs, if you use pesticides in your garden we cannot recommend eating the flowers that you put so much time and love into growing, which is a real shame. If you have herbs growing for use in the kitchen then you really don't want a dose of chemicals with them either.

'Environmentally friendly' natural and organic pesticides can still be highly toxic to bees and other insects. Don't be misled into thinking a 'natural' product is a good product to use in your garden. Some botanicals used in them are highly toxic to our little buzzy pals!