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Growing Greatness In the Garden with |
Gardening in November provides a moment of reprieve and realignment.
Our garden beds are established. Crops and ornamentals are in. You’ve staked the climbers and mulched the perennials. You’re prepared. But so are the pests!
Take the thrip insect whose life cycle takes upwards of four weeks during winter; hatching from egg to larvae to adult. In summer, it’s two.
Insofar as the gardener grows for beauty and bounty, our energy and time must also protect and preserve. Borrowing from experience as a commercial grower, there are principles of integrated pest management (IPM) instructive to the home gardener.
We harness the first two pillars of IPM, cultural and physical methods, before the third – chemical – as a last resort.
Pests are how Mother Nature selects the strong and removes the weak. Strong plants are wisely chosen for their location, and learning what grows best and where. Your garden hygiene practices and morning watering prevent fungal disease. Poking around in the garden informs you what insects are there. This is our culture of garden habits and techniques.
The best physical tactic is a structure. Ranging from the quick and simple – draping insect mesh across bamboo stakes – to the durable investment of greenhouses – a material barrier around your plants – is to realise pests and diseases are cheaper to prevent than fix.
When pest and disease pressure exceeds the limit of cultural and physical management, then use chemicals. Start with softer sprays – insecticidal soaps and mineral oils. Beware that natural doesn’t mean safe. Neem oil (Azadirachtin) is banned in Britain. Derris dust (Rotenone) is registered for killing aquatic life in the US. Rather, natural and synthetic pyrethrums (for example, Yates Mavrik), are safer for humans, bees and edibles.
Incorporating IPM is key to abundant harvests and blooms.
