Home Solutions

Home Solutions to your garden buggers!!
The key to being a green and responsible gardener is to really think about planning and preventing insects and disease before they happen. I feel picking the right plant for the right place combined with using natives, drought tolerant and plant material that has a good resistance to bugs, thugs and disease are key to “green” and above all low maintenance gardening. I also want to let you know that your home is a vast baskets of solutions just waiting for you to use them. Here are just a few things you can use:

Dish Soap = Insecticidal Soap
Mix 3 tablespoons of mild dish soap to a gallon of water and apply with a hand sprayer.

Tip: Before treating any plant always do a small test area to insure you have mixed the wrong amount that can harm rather than help.

Beer = Slug control
Burry a empty margriane or plastic butter container to ground level, fill 1/3 full of beer. Beer will attract slugs and causing them to fall in and die. Harvest slugs regularly.

Borax and Sugar = Ant Control
Mix ½ part borax to ½ sugar and place in close proximity to ant mound. Ants will collect the mixture bringing both the borax and sugar back to the mound feeding this mixture to the Queen ant will help to control the colony. Keep away from pets.

Wood Ash = Beetle deterrent
A spray made of equal parts wood ash combined with dehydrated lime mixed with water and sprayed on the foliage of plants is said to help the control of most beetles. Wood ash can also be used as a light mulch around lilies to improve health.

Rotten Eggs = Deer deterrent
If you ever have rotten eggs here is a use for them 2 to 3 rotten eggs blended in a gallon of water will keep both the deer and even the neighbours away.

Dog Hair or your hair from the hairdressers = Rodent Repellent
From Rabbits to Deer the sent of a human left by your hair in the garden will discourage them from sticking around.

Bug Juice – Crazy but true:
Hand remove the bugs that are bugging you, approximately half a cup and place in a blender along with 2 cups of water. Liquefy and strain using a cheese cloth, take about ¼ of this mixture and mix in 1 gallon of water, spray on infected plants….this is really just a way of saying don’t mess with me or your be blended!!

Boiling Water = Weed control

Pour boiling water over weeds on a walkway the hot water will break the weeds cell walls and kill of the weeds.

Baking Soda = Disease Control
Baking Soda is an excellent fungicide take 2 tablespoons of baking soda mix in 2 quarts of water, add in a few drops of mild detergent and presto a great mixture that can be sprayed on to help control anything from powdery mildew to blackspot.

These are just a few!!