If you are a gardener like me, then you know how frustrating it can be to find holes in all your plants and flower petals that have been eaten up by pests. The amazing thing with garden pests is that they can do lots of damage very quickly. You may check your flower garden early in the day and by the end of the day, you can find damage done by pests. There are lots of pests that can destroy your garden but some of the most commonly known ones are slugs, caterpillars, snails, birds and worms. From experience, there is no way to get rid of these pests completely but you can control them and save your garden.

What about insects you may ask? They are one of the worst things to have in any garden because they can live in weeds, piles of leaves, under the soil and many other places. What I normally do to try and keep insects away is to get rid of places in the garden or even near the garden where the insects could be living. Decaying matter, weeds, old leaves or old mulch must be removed from the garden or yard as this is where insects could be living and destroying your garden. Make it a point to regularly turn over the garden soil and break apart large clumps of dirt. This will eliminate the living spaces that insects may use to hide underground.

There is a dormant garden spray that you can use to get rid of garden pests but you need to be very careful using it. It is called dormant because you normally use it around February or March when plants are dormant and it will keep pests under control. But you can also kill your garden if you don’t follow the instructions given carefully. You can’t just spray this dormant spray everywhere as it will kill your plants. What you need to do is find the places where you know from experience pests can hide and spray just those areas.

Birds can be another problem for your garden if you have fruits and vegetables. Somehow, birds tend to leave flower gardens alone but they love to eat your veggies and fruits. Chasing the birds out of your garden won’t help because they come right back for more. But if you put a large bird feeder somewhere in you yard, it will help to keep the birds away. Be sure to get a squirrel proof bird feeder. Yes, some birds will continue to come back to your garden but not as often because now they have a place with food to eat. If you have a dog, let it loose near the garden and the birds will fly away fast. My dog chases anything that moves in the backyard!

There are lots of other pests that can kill your gardens but the ones I mentioned above are the most common ones. The best way to keep your flower garden free of pests is to check it regularly and if you see a problem try to eliminate it as soon as possible. If you are not sure of what the problem is, visit your local garden center and ask for help. Explain to them what is happening to your gardens and they can recommend a course of action to get rid of the pests.

Here are some other flower gardening sites that I found for you to browse. Thanks for visiting Best Flower Gardening!

How to Start a Flower Garden
My Not-So-Exotic Garden - WSJ.com
BBC - Gardening
Flowergardener
chrysanthemum: Definition from Answers.com
The Garden Gloves Come Off - Wall Street Journal

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