The Front Porch has gone buggy!  This week insects are the theme.  I'm sure many will give great insight into the positive educational value of God's creepy-crawlie creatures.  I like insects in their place, but sometimes they are chaos makers--and here on taming the chaos we'll look at how to keep them where they belong.

Click here to go to a website with great natural insect repellent ideas to keep ants, termites, spiders, mosquitoes, and cockroaches away! 

Below I'll list some ideas for controlling pests in the garden.  Most I've merely read about.  Some are folk wisdom rather than researched science.  (I personally put a lot of stock in folk wisdom on things like this--Great Grandma was hard working and didn't waste time with foolish notions that didn't work.).  A few have been tried in our own PrairieFrog garden with good results.  I love planting chives and onions by my rosebushes, and herbs near our vegetables.

Basil: Repels flies, mosquitoes and tomato worm.

Bay Leaf: A bay leaf in each storage container of beans or grains will discourages weevils and moths. I keep a bay leaf in all my grain canisters. 

Bee Balm: Plant with tomatoes to improve growth and flavor.

Borage: Companion plant for tomatoes, squash and strawberries to ward off tomato worms and other pests.

Catnip: Repels Ants, Aphids, Cockroaches, Flea Beetle, Japanese Beetles

Chives: Improves growth and flavor of carrots and discourages pests of many kinds.

 

Cilantro: Repels aphids and other insects.

Garlic: Deters many kinds of insects, especially aphids. (I like to plant garlic and chives near my roses.)

Gopher purge: Deters gophers, and moles.

Horseradish: Plant in potato patch to repel potato bugs.

Hyssop: Companion plant to cabbage and grapes, deters cabbage moths. Do not plant near radishes. (Companion planting guides say it causes radishes to have little flavor.)

Lavender: Discourages Mice, Ticks and Moths. (I like to have a little hedge of lavender at the back of our herb garden, near the foundation of the house)

Lemon balm: Use throughout the garden to deter insects.

Marigolds: One of the best pest deterrents. Keeps soil free of nematodes; discourages many insects. Plant freely throughout the garden. (This is one of my favorites so far for discouraging insects--we planted ours so that wind will carry it across all the plants, and we've been amazed at how "bug-free" our plants are this year.)

Mint: Deters white cabbage moths, and improves the health of cabbage and tomatoes. (I like to keep mint in a pot near other plants, but confined to prevent it invading--it can become quite the weed if given free-reign.)

Mole plants: Guides and internet sources say it discourages moles and mice if planted here and there throughout the garden.

Nasturtiums: Plant with tomatoes, radishes, cabbage, cucumbers, and under fruit trees. Deters aphids and pests of cucurbit family.

Parsley: Discourages beetles.

Petunias: Repels the asparagus beetle, tomato worm and general garden pests.

Rosemary: Discourages cabbage moths, bean beetles, and carrot flies.

Rue: Rue is said to deter Japanese beetles in roses and raspberries.

Sage: Companion plant with rosemary, cabbage, and carrots to repel cabbage moths, beetles, carrot flies, squash bugs, ants and flying bugs. Not suggested for planting near cucumbers.

Summer Savory: Plant with beans and onions to improve growth and flavor. Discourages cabbage moths.

Tansy: Plant with fruit trees, roses and raspberries. Deters flying insects, Japanese beetles, striped cucumber beetles, squash bugs, and ants.

Tarragon: Plant throughout the garden, disagreeable to most all pests.

Thyme: Said to deter cabbage worms when planted throughout the garden.

Valerian: Good anywhere in the garden to deter pests.

Wormwood: Keeps animals out of the garden when planted as a border.

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