Natural pest control — cheap DIY ways to protect your plants and garden

Pests in the garden can be utterly infuriating, ruining all our careful planting and tending in one vicious fell swoop.

But before you reach for the spray bottle, consider this: pests are often a messenger. Marauding insects may be a sign that plants are struggling – perhaps they’re lacking nutrients, were planted at the wrong time, or aren’t getting the right amount of water or sunlight.

Whether you’re growing indoors or out, prevention is often better than cure.

For my latest ABC Lifestyle story, I’ve rounded up helpful DIY measures I regularly use in my small city garden to help keep pests at bay – without breaking the bank or resorting to nasty chemicals.

These simple natural pest control methods include:

• Building healthy soil to create pest-resilient plants.
• Using simple pest-exclusion barriers.
• Encouraging beneficial insects.
• Intermingling plantings to confuse pests.
• Ways to deal with severe infestations without using sprays, which can affect beneficial bugs.

The effect of these simple methods is cumulative, I’ve noticed in my backyard permaculture garden. With each passing year, the number of pest visitors gradually reduces as my garden ecosystem starts to take care of itself.

This story is part of a regular gardening column I write for ABC Everyday, the lifestyle website of Australia’s national broadcaster. You can find my full story archive here.