In the far corner of my garden…
in white and green and eating the leaves right off of my Burgundy Cotton Crepe Myrtles…is the nasty, plant eating aphids!
Gasping boos from the crowd…<humor me and pretend?>
And in this corner…
in red and black…we have the beautiful, legendary Ladybugs here to save the day!
Cheers erupt all around my garden!
It’s the battle of the bugs…Ladybugs vs. Aphids…so let’s get ready to RUMBLE!!!
OK, so maybe my aphid issue isn’t quite that dramatic, but combating common garden pests is a scourge for gardeners like you and me everywhere.
Being in the south (zone 7b), I have a lot of different bugs that settle in for the summer so finding a healthy and organic/natural pest control isn’t always that easy. Sure I could spray insecticides or milder insecticidal soaps, but they take no prisoners and leave no survivors. This means that anytime you spray an insecticide, the chemicals don’t know the difference between the good bugs and the pests; plus they could potentially harm your children, pets and wild animals.
I could also just take the hose and turn the dial to jet stream and spray those aphids off of my plant leaves, but that doesn’t get rid of them for good. The best way to control those evil insects like aphids, scale, spider mites, thrips and many other small soft-bodied plant pests is to increase or bring in a strong population of ladybugs (or lady beetles).
With songs and stories written about them, those beautiful ladybugs can each eat around 80 aphids a day and work hard to protect your plants and flowers. Ladybugs also assist with pollination in certain areas where the bee populations have decreased. These little red ladies will help protect your roses, flowers, vegetables, fruits, and trees all summer long.
Don’t have any ladybugs defending your garden or simply not enough? You can purchase live lady bugs in various quanities to help you create a beautiful little army to help you protect your garden. Introducing the ladybugs into the garden can be a fun experience for the kids (and you too) to learn more about nature and organic gardening.
No matter what your gardening skill level, learning and knowing the good bugs vs. the bad bugs is critical to knowing how to solve pest problems. My garden always comes under attack during these hot summer months by all kinds of unwanted pests and the best way to control them is to continually work on balancing the ecosystem of your garden!
Learn more about organic gardening and garden pest control from The Home Depot Garden Club. While you’re there, you can join The Home Depot’s Garden Club for free and get advice, tips and information for your area and exclusive members only coupons delivered right to your inbox all for FREE.
My cucumber plants have brown spots on the leaves and some of the leaves are dying. Any advice?
Denise, various diseases like anthracnose can pop up when the weather is hot and humid. Sounds like you’ll need a fungicide for your plants. Check out this website, which I hope will help you identify the exact problem. You may want to take a few of the spotted leaves to your local Home Depot Garden Center and ask an associate to help you find the right project for it: http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/plantsci/hortcrop/pp656w.htm
Good luck! Lynn, Home Depot
Thanks for the feedback Mim! Glad your roses were protected by the ladybugs, those nasty aphids can make a real mess of roses.
Bravo, Darren. Do more articles about organic gardening.
This spring there was an onslaught of aphids at my roses, and almost immediately came the ladybugs to assault them.