7 Ways To Get Rid of Garden Pests without Pesticides

African violets have stunning velvety blooms in an explosion of colors and patterns. More popular in the 60s, they are making a comeback as chic and vintage houseplants that thrive indoors!

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Deter Garden Pests with Thorny Rose Canes Do you deal with critters tracking through your winter garden? Try this smart reader tip that utilizes rose canes to keep them out. Use thorny rose canes to deter pests in the garden

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Fungus gnats are a common pest among houseplants. These small flies tend to go unnoticed at first, slowly building their populations by laying eggs on the soil of our container plants. Their larvae feed on fungi and organic matter in our potting soil and nibble on plant roots as well. As much as we'd like, they don't go away on their own. Over time, their numbers grow, and you begin to notice the adults hovering above the soil surface when you water your houseplants.

Known by various names like the Silver Dust and the Silver Ragwort, the Dusty Miller (Jacobaea maritima) is a go-to plant for gardeners as it fits into any flower garden, regardless of the color scheme.

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Whether you call them woodchucks, whistle pigs, ground pigs, or groundhogs, these large ground squirrels can be a real nuisance in your yard and garden. “Groundhogs eat whatever is available and most nutritious,” says Sheldon Owen, PhD, wildlife extension specialist at West Virginia University. “They consume large quantities of herbaceous vegetation, especially fruits and vegetables. But they’ll also eat clover, bark, and landscape plants.”

Do you have small black flies living in your house plant compost? Or hovering around your house plants? These are fungus gnats, also known as house plant flies and sciarid flies. They’re mostly harmless – adult gnats cause little or no harm to plants, but they can become a nuisance in the home. Their tiny worm-like larvae live in the top 5-8cm of compost, where they feed on algae, fungi and plant roots. Healthy house plants usually tolerate this minor root damage, but the larvae can harm seedlings or weak plants.

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Rock gardens are an attractive way of displaying a variety of small plants including alpines, dwarf shrubs and low-growing perennials. They can be adapted to suit any space – an alpine trough, old stone wall or sunny border can all be used to create a form of rock garden. One of the first rock gardens was built at the Chelsea Physic Garden in London in the late 1770s, and they became a popular feature in Victorian and Edwardian gardens, providing a way to display alpine plants from around the world.