Simple, non-toxic tips for getting rid of unwanted insects in your summer garden
The third week of June is when concerns about pests and weeds may pop up from the garden.
This is a good time to stake up floppy plants and make sure you have good support in place for climbing beans and peas, dahlias and delphiniums. You can divide up spring blooming perennials such as iris now once they finish flowering.
It is not too late to add roses, shrubs and trees to the landscape. Just remember to keep newly planted trees and shrub well-watered in the summer heat.
Q. Help! I have aphids (I think) on the buds and new leaves of my rose plants. They are not really green but more brown in color and very small with soft bodies. I cannot use pesticides as I keep bees. Any tips? — Beekeeper, email
A. Bee happy solutions to aphid invasions are as easy as pinching the buds and new foliage with your fingers to squish the aphid. You don’t have to squish them all because by destroying some of the aphids, you will alert the lady bugs flying past your garden that a buffet of aphids is waiting for them.
We now know that when insects are injured, they send out sounds much like other weakened life forms. These sounds then attract predators to finish them off. A damaged or sick plant also communicates, so a weak plant is more susceptible to insects and disease.
The best part of the pinching solution is you get to visit your roses a few days after the pinch and count how many lady bugs have appeared to feast on the aphids.
Q. I have a verbena hanging basket. It is lovely. I have noticed tiny white insects dart about every time I water. Are these white flies and how do I control them? — G., email
A. Yes, verbena attracts the sap-sucking white fly, especially if you let the hanging basket dry out. White flies also feed on fuchsia baskets that are struggling, so keeping your pots watered is the best way to fend off the white fly.
As for treatment, using strong jets of water on the foliage of the hanging basket has shown to be quite effective. You must repeat the blasts of water three or four times over the course of an hour then repeat daily for a week or two. The water treatment disrupts the white flies as they hide under the foliage and it makes them scatter. They soon return and another blast of water wreaks havoc with their tiny nervous systems. After several days of this water torture, the white flies die of stress or attract predators that finish them off. Consistent rinsing of the foliage with water is a good start to any insect invasion.
Q. I follow you on Facebook and Instagram. I notice in your pictures you have small clay flower pots sitting on the edges of your raised bed garden. My friend visited your garden for a tour and said there is a reason for upside down clay pots in the garden, but could not remember what it was. Do clay pots repel insects? — Anon.
A. No, clay pots attract slugs, sow bugs and earwigs, especially if they are damp and it is a hot day. I use the small clay pots as a decorative ornament that also attracts plant-eating insects. In the morning I just lift the clay pots and stomp on any plant predators that dare to hide in the cozy space.
Tip: If you grow dahlias, place a clay pot stuffed with straw or wet newspaper on top of a stake near the dahlias as they begin to flower. The earwigs that love to live inside dahlia blooms will be attracted to the upside down flower pot instead of the dahlias flower.
Marianne Binetti has a degree in horticulture from Washington State University and is the author of several books. Reach her at binettigarden.com.