Bugs: How to Kill’em! Green Thumb Garden Center

Step on them! That works. This may be a little difficult, however, if the bugs are on your prize-winning rose, or thirty feet up in your pine tree.
Another viable option is to have predator bugs working for you. A couple of good-guy bugs that you could use in your corner are Lady Bugs and Praying Mantis. The tiny little red Lady Bug can eat up to fifty aphis each day. These bugs can easily climb up your rose bushes or fly up into your pine tree, and thus effectively control the bad-guy bugs. To increase the number of Lady Bugs in your garden, consider using Lady Bug lures.
Another option in the battle against bugs is the biological controls. There are traps availa-ble for house flies and yellow jackets. Also available are sticky yellow traps that will control white flies and fungus gnats. Additionally, very selective traps for controlling coddling moths, cabbage loppers, and a variety of other insects are also available.
Finally, several natural insecticides are available to control damaging insects. Neem Oil is an extract from the seed of the Neem tree. The spray is effective in controlling most garden pests yet is very safe for the environment.
Another very safe product, which has been around for a while, is pyrethrin. Pyrethrin is de-rived from the African Chrysanthemum flower. Once pyrethrin is dry, it has no residual effect. This makes it extremely safe for use on edible crops and can be used on vegetables right up the time for harvest.
So if fighting bust with bugs or using natural sprays and traps doesn’t appeal to you, get out in the garden and start squashing those pests. But if you plan to step on your prize-winning roses, at least wear shoes.
For additional information, consult the garden pros at Green Thumb Garden Center, 23734 Newhall Avenue, Old Town Newhall. Please check our website at: www.greenthumb.com .