A warm and cheerful hello to all the wonderful readers of Rural Living, and this column! I’m sure you all are braving the chill and making the most of what winter has to offer.

As much as we need to take extra care of our health in this weather and protect us from seasonal bugs, our beautiful gardens need that extra bit of attention as well; since they usually get neglected during this period.

In the last issue, we discussed the ways to address slugs and snails, the most common vistors that bug our gardens. This time I would like to share some information about some other garden pests that can, and do, inflict harm to our tender plants.

Aphids, common pests of nearly all indoor and outdoor ornamental plants as well as vegetables, field crops, and fruit trees, suck the sap from leaves causing them to yellow. Some of the natural insecticides that can be used to eliminate them include nicotine, sabadilla and pyrethrum. You can also get rid of them by using rhubarb spray. Boil 5 rhubarb leaves in a large pot of water for approximately 10 minutes. When cooled, add a squirt of dishwashing detergent to fix the spray to the leaves. Set to and spray. Take care as rhubarb leaves contain oxalic acid and should not be eaten.

Earwigs can eat great holes in your flowers overnight. To get rid of them, make an earwig trap from an upturned plant pot filled with scrunched up newspaper- it’s an ideal hiding place for these nocturnal pests. Once trapped, you can tip them into rubbish or leave them out for the birds.
 
Spittlebugs, hidden in a foamy 'spittle' like substance, feed on many types of grasses, weeds, and other herbaceous plants and are commonly seen on roses, chrysanthemums and daisies, depending on the species. These can be removed with a strong jet of water from the hose, or even by hand.

Apart from these ‘outside’ pests, our own pet dogs and cats, if left unrestrained, can sometimes wreak havoc on gardens. While dogs love to dig up newly planted bulbs and flowers, resulting in damaged lawns; cats like lying upon freshly turned earth and can harm newly planted seeds. Both dogs and cats may use gardens as a place to relieve themselves, leaving unwanted and unwelcome additions to our gardens.

A possible effective way to keep dogs and cats away from the gardens is a solution of garlic, hot pepper or soapy water. Otherwise, the best natural way to do that is to use adequate fencing, and to give them their own space and train them well so they understand the importance of gardens.

Keep in mind that when you spray your gardens, you also eliminate the predators. These predators take longer to restore their population than the fast breeding pests do. So the problem seems to worsen as when we spray, it becomes an endless cycle.

Natural predators will always take over if you let them. But if natural predators don't keep pests to an acceptable level then you need to step in and act. Don’t let Mother Nature think- ‘strange are the ways of mankind’.