Just like all life forms, trees can also get ill, and part of the causes are harmful insects. These harmful insects could thrive and damage the leaves, branches, and fruits of your trees as well as the other plants you grow in your garden. Your precious trees, especially the fruit-bearing ones, may quickly degrade and may even die because of the severity of the damage these pests can inflict.
Insecticides may be an effective substance to get rid of these harmful bugs, but some of them aren’t the most eco-friendly or are unsafe for fruits. Fortunately, there are plenty of environmentally-safe and fruit-friendly solutions to ward off pests in your garden, as well as keep your trees and plants healthy.
Beneficial Insects vs. Harmful Insects
Before you trying any anti-bug solution or calling in eco-friendly tree spraying services from Salt Lake City or any other area, make sure that the bugs living in your garden aren’t the harmful type. The following are insects that are safe and good for your trees’ health:
- ladybugs
- ground beetles
- minute pirate bugs
- green lacewings
- aphid midges
- damsel bugs
- braconid wasps
- spiders
- soldier beetles
- tachinid flies
- hover flies
- mealybug destroyer
- predatory mites
These insects prey on the harmful bugs that damage your tree’s leaves and affect its health. Leaving them alone in your yard is one of the natural and eco-friendliest ways to ward off pests.
Meanwhile, here’s a list of insects to be wary of:
- spider mites
- leafminers
- scales
- mealybugs (not to be confused with mealybug destroyer)
- thrips
- aphids (not to be confused with aphid midges)
- whiteflies
Home Remedies
To get rid of pests in your fruit-bearing trees, you can try to make your own soap spray. Simply mix 1 tsp of vegetable oil, 1 tsp of dish-washing soap, and a cup of water. Spray this solution all over the leaves, and then rinse it off after a few hours.
If you have peppermint oil, you may use this as well mixed with 10 parts water. You may also add liquid soap to the mix to make it lethal against bugs with hard shells. But an even stronger homemade solution would be hot peppers. Mix 1 tb of hot peppers, 6 cloves of garlic, 1 minced onion, 1 gallon of water, and 1 tsp of soap. This will eliminate many types of harmful insects, especially those that avoid hot peppers instinctively.
Dormant Oil
Dormant oil is a safe pesticide used on fruit-bearing trees during their dormant season. Spray this on the leaves and branches while the buds aren’t beginning to swell yet. If you have to use dormant oil on other times of the year, only spray on the bugs that are inflicting severe damage to your trees. That way, you won’t harm the beneficial insects.
Natural Pest-Control Herbs
If there are natural pest control solutions in the form of beneficial insects, there are also those in the form of herbs. Basil, rosemary, lavender, and mint are some examples of natural pest-repellent herbs. If you don’t want any of those, you may instead consider petunias, clovers, chrysanthemums, marigolds, or eucalyptus.
Food Waste
Your food scraps can be a natural defense against harmful insects, too. Banana peels, lemon, orange, and lime peels, as well as ground coffee, onion, and cucumbers, repel many types of pests, including mosquitoes, bees, and wasps. Place these scraps on the affected areas, as well as by the entry points of your home, to keep the pests from coming in.
These eco-friendly and simple solutions could help resolve your pest problem fast. When in doubt, calling professionals will always help, so keep them in your options as well.
