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GREEN MATTERS

Soft options: Of late, farm-friendly practices like organic pest control management is being popularised.

Plants share a common attribute with babies in their susceptibility to disease and their need for protection thereof. Pests claim the largest portion of any home gardener’s list of worries and could prove to be fatal for the whole garden even if afflicting only a small portion of the garden initially.

Thankfully for those who do not mind using them, market overflows with stocks of chemical pesticides which can restore the garden to its original glory in a jiffy. However, there is a flip side too. Indiscriminate use of pesticides will reap undesirable outcomes such as reduction in the quality of soil, killing of beneficial insects and thereby warding off birds and butterflies, and also killing the benign germs that aid plant growth. Chemical pesticides, if used over and over again, will have the insects developing resistance and striking back with vengeance. Also, garden as looked upon as a place of refreshment, will turn out to be exactly the antithesis if reeking of pesticides.

For these and umpteen other reasons, ordinary chemical insecticides do not find a place of favour in many a gardener’s shopping list. Of late, many have begun using organic fertilizers and pesticides such as neem cakes and sprays. Resorting to farm-friendly practices such as encouraging the growth of benign insects and germs will be of great help. Even vermi-compost, used as an organic alternative of chemical fertilisers, can be termed as a natural way of keeping the garden clear of harmful insects as it does not repel birds and predator insects that eat them.

“Interspersing the garden with certain therapeutic plants is another way of repelling the harmful insects,” says B.R.Kurdukar (Phone: 9885260305), retired Joint Director of the Horticulture Department and training coordinator at the Agri-Horticultural Society. He recommends garlic, marigold and turmeric as ideal repellents.

Numerous other plant varieties such as basil, radish, onion, and lavender help keep away quite a variety of pests. It helps to take expert advice on which plant to use to ward off what insect. Some people prefer to have ‘insectaries’—garden plots where a few specific flowering plants are nourished to attract predator insects.

While the predators can prey on undesirable insects, plants will provide alternative food in the absence of such insects. However, one should be well aware of the choicest plants of each predator.

Usually birds are considered intruders into a well-kept garden, particularly if it happens to be indoors or on terrace.

However, it will pay handsomely if a home gardener tries to hold his bird jitters. By virtue of being the most natural predators of insects and their larvae, birds could prove to be the best friends of a gardener.

So, keeping one’s hands off the bird nests will assure unpaid surveillance services to the green corner. Perhaps proactive measures such as placing of grains and birdbaths will help too.

A non-interventional technique of barring entry is to cover the garden with a protective net. This especially works with terrace gardens which are limited in area and yet allow pegs to hold a net. Another way of removing insects is to cull them one by one, particularly when the plant population is sparse. The bugs can be handpicked and dropped in soap solution.

Use of sprays, though organic, should ideally be resorted to only after all other methods fail. Neem cakes may however be mixed in soil for sustained pest control, says Mr.Kurdukar.

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