How To Kill Common Garden Pests.

This interesting article addresses some of the key issues regarding pest control. A careful reading of this material could make a big difference in how you think about pest control.

Birds and Other Wildlife

Keep Blue Jays and Crows from stealing your corn by putting inflated bicycle inner tubes around the corn stalks. The birds will think the inner tube is a snake
and won`t bother with your corn.
Drape berry bushes or strawberry plants with an old lightweight fishing net to keep the birds from eating the fruit. Empty mesh onion bags that have been cut open work well too.
Protect your grapes from birds with used shopping bags. Cut the bottom two corners from several shopping bags, slip them over grape clusters and use a stapler to fasten the bags. The holes will allow for adequate ventilation and drainage for the grapes to ripen.
Wrap trees with chicken wire to prevent mice and other critters from chewing the bark. Just be sure that you wrap it higher than the snow line will be.
To protect melons, squash and pumpkins while they ripen, cover them with old milk crates.  
To keep Deer out of your garden, hang bars of heavily scented soap around the perimeter of the garden. The Deer do not like the smell and will not go past it.  

Cats and Dogs

It's really a good idea to probe a little deeper into the subject of pest control. What you learn may give you the confidence you need to venture into new areas.

If your pets will not stay out of your flower garden, sprinkle a good amount of black pepper around the flowers. The animals do not like the smell and it won`t harm the plants.
Cats love to scratch and roll in freshly turned dirt. To keep cats from digging up your seeds, place chicken wire on turned soil as soon as you are finished planting so that the cats can`t scratch the soil. When seeds have sprouted and soil is no longer light and fluffy from turning, the cats won`t have any desire to dig.

Insects

Protect your cabbages from pests with old pantyhose. When cabbages are tennis ball size, cover them with the leg of old pantyhose. They will let in light and stretch as the cabbage grows.
Aphids love anything that is bright yellow. To trap Aphids, paint old jar lids with bright yellow paint and coat them with petroleum jelly or honey and place throughout the garden.  Make sure to re coat the lids regularly.
Get rid of Caterpillars with citrus juice. In a food processor, grind up the peel and seeds of any citrus fruit and soak them 8-12 hours in water. In the morning strain the liquid into a spray bottle and spray it on your plants.
Earwigs like to hide during the day in damp dry places. To get rid of them, place pieces of corrugated cardboard throughout the garden. When daylight comes they will hide in the corrugations. In the morning pick up the cardboard and burn it. (use new cardboard each time)
To get rid of fire ants, pour scalding water on the hills.
To get rid of grasshoppers, plant Basil around the perimeter of the garden. The grasshoppers will fill up on the Basil and leave the plants for you.
Sprinkle the garden with moth crystals to get rid of slugs. This also keeps dogs and cats away.

When word gets around about your command of pest control facts, others who need to know about pest control will start to actively seek you out.