All About Natural Pest Control

In the garden

Remember that a healthy garden is a relatively pest-free garden. Weed your garden often and pull out any dead or dying foliage. This helps in two ways: weeds and other natural or unnatural debris will be a breeding ground for insects; also, weak or dead plants could already be infested, and pulling them out will slow the spreading to other plants.

While many companies offer fine natural products to repel or kill harmful insects in your garden, there are also homemade recipes readily available. For example, you can prevent mites and other insects with a concoction of cayenne pepper (two tablespoons), natural dish/hand soap (just a few drops), and water (one gallon). This mixture is then sprayed onto the plant. Another recipe uses one tablespoon of canola oil instead of the cayenne pepper.

Remember that some insects are good for your garden and their presence should be encouraged. Lady bugs, hover-flies, and even the praying mantis are all very effective at ridding your garden of damaging insects.

In the house
Whether you live in the country, suburbs, or city, rodents can become a problem. Sure, there are the old fashioned traps and poisons, but do you really want to kill the animals, and do you want to risk harming you family or pets by leaving poison around the house.

Many people have found that a combination of peppermint and spearmint oils deter rodents from entering an area. They simply hate the smell.

Other companies have gone the circle-of-life route to scare away rodents. It is most likely unreasonable for you to keep either a fox or a bobcat (the rat’s most feared predators) in or near your home, but now you can purchase a product that recreates the smell of these animals. Rats' highly tuned olfactory senses pick up the scent, but humans can barely detect it at all.