Sharing your garden is not a bad thought really. However when you share your garden to pests such as insects, it becomes a different story. It would be ok to share the garden with those pests if they are not harmful. However, those pests can do more damage to your garden before you can even reap the harvest. Here are some ways to control or get rid of common garden pests.

1. Aphids –causes the plants wilt, become weak, and even have yellow or deformed leaves. This is because, this very tiny insects feed on the plant’s sap. These insects will often leave a sticky residue on the surface of the leaves. To remove these aphids spray with strong water that ahs insecticide soaps. Also encouraging the presence of lady bugs helps.

2. Colorado Potato Beetles – although the name implies Colorado, this beetle is not only present in Colorado, but all through out Northern America. This beetle will often munch on eggplants, tomatoes and obviously potatoes. It will then cause the production of fruits to decline. To prevent these beetles, hands pick adult vegetables already. It can also lessen the damage by planting early maturing variety of plants. There are also other bugs that will prey on the Colorado beetle such as stink bugs, tachinid flies and ground beetles.

3. Flea Beetles – flea beetles give the vegetable leaves holes. It is best to use repellent type sprays on these insects because they are hard to spot. Here are some sprays that can repel or prevent these insects: wood ashes, hot pepper sprays, and diatomaceous earth.

4. Grasshoppers – grasshoppers could be really a pain, they are like the less evil version of locusts. Grasshoppers will appear on your garden on a cyclic seasonal basis. You can apply Nosema Locustae in areas where grasshoppers are breeding. You can also get turkeys or hens to eat these hoppers away.

5. Tomato Hornworms – these larvae are voracious eaters that lurk within the cluster of leaves of tomato plants. When that happens the leaves will eventually fall off. These can be controlled by chemicals such as Bacillus thuringensis that is safe with pets and children.

One of the best ways to make your garden healthy is avoiding them to get stressed. Yes, that’s right. Plants do get stressed as well.

Also remember to have a healthy soil. Try not o use the wrong kind of chemical fertilizers, because they might kill the beneficial microbes that come with them. Instead use green manures, organic fertilizers and compost to build a healthy soil.