Artificial Gerbera Daisies

3 ways you're attracting bugs to your garden

The Japanese-beetle invasion is about to begin. Soon they'll be feeding and fornicating all over your yard, munching leaves into Swiss cheese and calling all of their pesky friends by leaving a scent trail, alerting others to the best eatin' on the block.

The Japanese beetles will fight for leaf space with aphids, slugs and earwigs, some of the Erie area's most common and destructive garden pests.

You can fight back. But before you dash off to the garden center and buy the biggest bottle of bug spray you can find, consider the following tips.

Know your plants and pests

The best way to treat pests in your garden is with knowledge.

"It's normal to have insects on your plants," said Ruth Benner, integrative pest-management educator at the Erie County Cooperative Extension. The key is knowing whether the insect is a friend or foe to that plant.

"You need to know what your plants are, what the insect you saw is, and if it's a pest to that particular plant," Benner said.

Quit babying your landscape

Are you an indulgent gardener, feeding and watering your tender plants, creating a green, lush landscape?

You might as well put up a "pests welcome" sign because you're setting up a buffet for insects who find your succulent plants and flowers scrumptious. (Munch, munch, munch.)

"Overfeeding and overwatering creates a habitat that insects love," said Benner. "You're setting up artificial conditions with overly thick, lush vegetation that offers nice shelter below where the insects are protected from wind, rain and predators. They go to town on your plants."

Use a slow-release fertilizer that will supply nutrients throughout the summer without causing the overly soft and lush plant growth that water-soluble fertilizers cause.

Pick tough plants

"Look for plants with thicker leaves, with hairy leaves or with sticky leaves," Benner suggested. "Plants with a sticky residue on their leaves are actually making their own insect repellent."

Strong scents, such as those produced by marigolds and most herbs, deter many insects.

Hosta, Benner said, is a favorite of slugs that like the moist, shady environment that hosta thrives in. "But they have a tough time eating the thick-leaved variety of hosta, so opt for those."

Patrol regularly

Monitor your plants once a week to detect pest damage before it gets out of hand or devastates the plant.

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