<< Back to Articles Avoid Those Annoying Summer Pests! 26/04/09 Hooray, summer is nearly with us which means BBQs, warm nights with a glass of wine and picnics are some of the joys we can look forward to. However, if there’s one thing that will taint these experiences its bugs and other common garden pests. The warm temperatures, humidity and the usual abundance of food all act as a magnet for pests at any garden gathering. Some eat things, some destroy things and others are just plain annoying but there are measures you can take to minimise or even eradicate any pest related problems you may have so read on to identify potential problems and discover easy solutions that can be implemented at home. Ants Possibly the most problematic creatures that you will experience this summer is the good old ant. Although one of the most organised creatures on the planet, they are never-the-less frustrating once they have found out where food is kept and will quite happily set up camp for the summer in your kitchen, store cupboard or anywhere else where sweet and sugary foods are kept. Once an ant discovers a sweet spillage, say a dollop of jam from your morning toast, a message is quickly relayed back to the other worker ants in a colony so by the time you arrive back from work you could well be facing a whole army of hungry ants which won’t give up without a fight! There are however, a number of things you can do to prevent being overrun by the pesky little critters, obviously being more careful with your morning toast toppings is around number one!  Traditional methods such as boiling water and pesticides around nests are effective, however it is often difficult to determine the locations of these dwellings. Nowadays baits are the most effective treatments whereby baits are positioned where ant trails (invisible odour trails which worker ants follow between food and the nest) are prominent and anywhere else where ants forage and as ants find these ‘sources of food’, they take them back to their nests to share with the rest of the colony unbeknown to them that it is actually poisoned. This will tend to eradicate most of a colony over a period of a few days and you should see a noticeable drop in numbers. The drawbacks to this method are;
- Can attract ant from other colonies that are yet to find your kitchen as an inviting food source
- Ants are very picky about their food and will change their tastes to suit the needs of the colony over the course of the season. With this in mind, if the infestation does not appear to subside with one particular bait, it might be a good idea to try another one before dismissing this method of control. Similarly, the original bait may work at other times
Bees, wasps and other flying insects Garden entertaining is one of the definitive images of summer, however being bombarded by all manner of flies and having to fight for your with every wasp in the nearby vicinity is not many people’s idea of an enjoyable time. Luckily, being the superior race, we have come up with one or two methods to win this seasonal war! So let’s look at the opposition. Wasps are generally regarded as the most disliked British garden pest due to their alarming appearance and aggressive nature, though often forgotten, they do have beneficial qualities of their own such as eating harmful insects and pollinating flowers in search of nectar. Like ants, they are attracted to sweet smelling foods and drinks as well as protein foods such as pet food for example. Common control methods include traps and catchers, electric insect zappers and sprays all intended for individual wasps, although it is always advisable to leave unthreatening wasp nests alone. Read this interesting article on Wasps and their behaviour for more information and how to deter them. Bees are less aggressive than wasps and are therefore less likely to sting you. They also valuable to the environment due to their pollinating characteristics and honey producing abilities. It is therefore suggested that bees are left undisturbed unless they pose a real threat to humans. In cases where a nest is situated near a home or public area, it is advisable to call a specialist to relocate the nest. Other flying insects that could pose troublesome this summer both inside the house and outside include House Flies, Fruit Flies, Mosquitoes, Midges, and Cluster Flies. Garden centres and household ware stores stock numerous control methods for flies including swatters, sticky paper traps, zappers and deterrents. Mice and Rats A house and garden pest list would not be complete without a mention of Mice and Rats. Thankfully however, contrary to the onslaught of insect pests, rodents tend to leave our homes alone during the summer months in favour of outdoor scavenging pursuits. However, leftover BBQ and party food will still entice them into your garden initially and it could prove difficult to get rid of them. Again, there are numerous methods of deterring and removing mice and rats of which are outlined below. Poisons and mouse traps of different varieties are available through garden centres, but there are also more humane treatments on the market which do not involve killing the intruder. These include cage traps which, funnily enough, traps the rodent alive in a cage until released, and sonic repellers which emit ultrasonic waves through wall cavities to drive out nesting mice and rats. These waves are inaudible to humans and cats & dogs and completely safe. Similar ultrasonic repellers are also available to deter foxes, moles, cats and deer. Slugs and Snails Slugs and snails are not really just a summer pest as such but I thought it necessary to include a section on these as they are considered by many a frustrated gardener as Garden Enemy #1! After tenderly growing seedlings in the safety of your greenhouse and transferring them to your designated garden plot, there is nothing more infuriating than waking up the next day to the remnants of a few stumps interspersed with silvery trails! Obviously most of you will deem slug traps and pellets the answer to this problem but there are a number or organic methods you can employ in your garden that won’t cause distress to pets and the local wildlife. So what options are available to the more concerned gardener looking for more organic solutions? - Impenetrable Fortress – Use gritty materials to create a ‘moat’ around your crops as slugs do not like crawling over it is one tactic. You can also build a wall using copper rings which give the invertebrates a slight electric shock, or recycling plastic bottles or yoghurt pots and cutting off the bottoms.
- Slugs love beer so creating small pools in recycled plastic trays will attract the slugs in which they will promptly drown! …I can think of worse ways to go!
- Creating an environment where birds, frogs and hedgehogs feel welcome will dramatically reduce numbers. Frogs and hedgehogs are particularly effective as both come out to play at night when slugs have the nibbles.
- By going out in the garden with a torch at night you can pick some off by hand. Give yourself the upper hand and save time by placing upturned grapefruit halves and coconut shells which act as a “homeless shelter” for the slugs of which you can just pick up and dispose of the slugs.
- Other methods include sacrificial plants by which I mean planting foliage that the slugs are likely to prefer over your crops, nearby to try and tempt them away. You could also introduce the parasite nematodes (microscopic worms) into the soil around prized crops which breed inside the slug and eventually kills it off.
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