Over the last decade, gardeners have seen a rise in the number of eco-friendly pesticides and herbicides on the market. These have proven to be just as effective as their harmful chemical counterparts, and have been met by the approval of gardening enthusiasts and environmentalists around the world.
Unlike chemical pesticides, these eco-friendly alternatives do not harm the environment, pollute the atmosphere, or have links to health conditions in humans or other animals.
If you’re ready to ditch the chemicals and do something good for the planet, here’s what you need to know to get started:
Bio-pesticides and bio-herbicides
When you use chemicals to kill specific plants or insects, any animal that then consumes these plants or insects is also ingesting the pesticides. Needless to say, this is bad news for the ecosystem.
Bio-pesticides and bio-herbicides allow you to keep the pests at bay without causing harm to your family, pets, or other wildlife nearby. Although bio-pesticides are still chemicals, they’re made from natural elements, and work to keep pests under control rather than wiping them out entirely.
There are plenty of different types of bio-pesticides, but they generally fall into one of two categories:
- Microbial pesticides, which use microorganisms like bacteria and fungi to kill specific insects or weeds.
- Pheromone pesticides, which disrupt the mating patterns of the insects they target and inhibit reproduction.
Then, there’s also plant-incorporated protectants (PIPs) — genetic material that’s added into plants and allows them to produce their own pesticide.
Cages and traps
For larger pests, cages and traps like these are your best option. If a household pet eats a poisoned rat, they can be at risk of secondary poisoning — but, with cages and traps, you don’t need to use anything toxic. Catching and releasing larger pests is more humane than poisoning them, although it may take a little longer for you to get rid of them all. If you are intent on killing the rodents you trap, forgo the poisonous commercial bait and opt for snap traps instead — or simply get a cat, and hope it does the hard work for you!
Bark mulch for flowerbeds
Instead of reaching for the weed-killer, try spreading bark mulch or plastic to stop the weeds popping up. Either option will suffocate most things it covers, though, so be sure to only put it around the plants in your flowerbed.
Have any eco-friendly pest control methods of your own to share? Leave a comment and let us know.