You’ve put hours and hours into your garden tilling, planting, weeding and watering. The last thing you want are insects coming in to ruin it all.
Insects can not only damage how a plant looks but cause infestations, like mottling on leaves, that will eventually kill the plant. Here's some advice from us at Ragan & Massey to take back your garden from these pests.
Insects That Love To Snack In Your Garden
Some insects are more destructive than others to your garden.
- Aphids: These tiny bugs suck the juices from plants, leaving leaves molded or curled. Aphids are wingless and pear-shaped and will go after nearly every garden plant, including beans, peas, melons, cucumbers, pumpkins, squash, tomatoes and cabbage.
- Chinch Bugs: Summer lawns can take a lot of damage from chinch bugs that sucks the juices from blades, leaving wilted and yellow grass behind. The first sign of damage is a two- to three-foot irregular-shaped yellow patch.
- Cutworms: These pests cut down seedlings right at or near the soil in the spring when plants are tender. Cutworms are caterpillars that curl into the a letter C shape when disturbed. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, potatoes, corn, peas, beans, celery, lettuce and many other garden crops are susceptible to these insects.
- Mites: Minute, red, black or brown mites attack just about anything in a flower or vegetable garden, including fruit crops. Mites feed on plant juices, leaving leaves stippled, yellow and dry or with pale yellow spots or blotches. Also if there is any fine webbing covering the leaves, it is probably mites.
- Mole Crickets: Both adults and nymphs bite and remove plant tissue from grass and ornamentals. Mole crickets lay their eggs in masses in the soil. Adults have narrow wings over a narrow body.
Insects That Love To Snack On You
There are also those pests that can make gardening a little unbearable because they either bite, sting or just suck your blood.
- Fire Ants: These biters are a big nuisance. Their bites are painful and can leave a raised welt that becomes a white pustule. Multiple stings are common.
- Fleas: Dogs, cats and humans alike all provide a tasty snack for these little black bugs. Not only do the bites cause painful, itchy red bumps, fleas can transmit diseases and cause allergies in pets.
- Mosquitoes: One of the best-known summer pests, mosquitos breed in stagnant water and soft soil. They carry numerous diseases including West Nile virus.
- Ticks: These biters carry all sorts of diseases, including Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. They hide in grass and shrubs.
- Wasps: These pests will sting if their nests are threatened. A sting can carry some risk of allergic reaction.
How To Get Rid Of These Pests
The good news is Compare-N-Save Indoor/Outdoor insecticide takes care of all of the above-mentioned pests. Simply apply the product to the areas where these pests live to kill them and keep them from coming back. Indoor/Outdoor can be used around your house, in your garden and on lawns. It can be applied directly to trees, shrubs, foliage plants, flowers and nonbearing fruit and nut trees. Don’t garden without it!