Pest resistant plantings.

Ladybugs are one of the good guys!


How to Plant a Pest Resistant Garden!

Pests bug me! Especially in my garden, so I have learned to pick plants that cut down on pest maintenance chores and the use of pesticides.

1. There are many plants that will attract beneficial insects that prey on pests that damage your garden. Not all bugs are pests however. Ladybugs and praying mantis are good examples of beneficial bugs in the garden!

2. Repels:
   Artemisia - produces a strong antiseptic aroma that repels most insects. Use in flower borders or in a vegetable garden.
   Basil - oils repel thrips, flies and mosquitoes.
   Borage - repels tomato hornworms and cabbage worms and attracts beneficial bees and wasps.
   Catnip - repels just about everything, except for cats! Keeps away flea beetles, aphids, Japanese beetles, squash bugs, ants, and weevils.
   Chives - repels Japanese beetles and carrot rust flies.
   Dahlias - repel nematodes.
   Garlic - planted near roses it repels aphids. It also deters codling moths, Japanese beetles, root maggots, snails, and carrot root fly.

3. Attracts:
   Dill - attracts hoverflies and predatory wasps, and its foliage is used as food by swallowtail butterfly caterpillars. Tomato hornworms are also attracted to dill, so if you plant it at a distance, you can draw these destructive insects away from your tomatoes. Dill repels aphids and spider mites. Sprinkle dill leaves on squash plants to repel squash bugs.
   Hyssop - attracts honeybees to the garden.
   Lavender - a favorite among many beneficial insects, but also repels fleas.
   Sunflowers - draw aphids away from other plants. Ants will move their colonies onto sunflowers but sunflowers are unaffected.