Common vegetable garden pests

5th August, 2023

Although attracting wildlife to a garden is great, it can be a problem if it is a vegetable garden or allotment, as they can soon start feasting on all your fruit and veg, that you have worked hard to grow. Here are 10 common pests in a British allotment or vegetable garden and how to deal with them using organic methods, without the use of toxic poisons.

1. Slugs and Snails: Use copper tape or barriers around the edges of your garden beds, or sprinkle crushed eggshells around your plants. You can also lure them away from your vegetables using beer traps (pour some beer into a container, then bury it, so it is level with the ground. The slugs will then be attracted to the smell and fall into it.)

2. Aphids: Spray a mixture of water and neem oil on the affected plants, or spray soapy water on the plants to kill the aphids.

3. Butterflies and Caterpillars: Handpick caterpillars and remove them from the garden. Use netting or cover your plants with fleece to protect them from Cabbage White butterfly eggs. You can also plant companion herbs like thyme or rosemary to repel them.

4. Birds: Feathered friends, such as pigeons and crows, can eat your peas, cabbages and soft fruit. Use fruit cages to protect fruit like raspberries. Visual deterrents can be effective. These include light reflecting old CDs hung near your vegetable plants, old fashioned scarecrows (one study found that if you wear a high vis vest, then shoo birds away, then put the high vis on a scarecrow, it can trick birds into thinking it is a human that will scare them, so they avoid the garden. The scarecrow should also be moved about the garden, to different areas, every few days). Another idea is hawk designed bird deterrent kites, that fly above the veg patch. Birds will avoid the garden if they think there is a predator there. Hammering a long nail into the top of fence posts, makes it too narrow for larger birds, like crows and pigeons, to perch on the post, making it less likely they will then swoop into the garden for a snack,

5. Spider Mites: Rinse your plants with water or spray them with organic insecticidal soap to get rid of spider mites.

6. Carrot Fly: Plant companion plants like onions, garlic, or chives to repel the fly. You can also cover your carrot bed with fleece or netting to protect them.

7. Vine Weevil: Use beneficial nematodes in your garden to control vine weevils.

8. Whitefly: Spray a mixture of water and organic insecticidal soap on the affected plants, or use sticky traps to catch the flies.

9. Mole: Plant garlic bulbs or castor bean plants around the edges of your garden to repel moles. You can also use vibrating devices or humane traps to get rid of them.

10. Deer: Plant deer-resistant plants like lavender, thyme, or rosemary around the edges of your garden. You can also use physical barriers like high fences to keep them out of your garden.