Lazy Gardening Series: Part 1: Wildlife/Insects

We’re coming up on gardening season folks! Say it with me, “This year we vow to plant and keep a beautiful, productive garden... the lazy way.” You heard yourself correctly. The lazy way! 

Trust that what you’re about to learn is going to change the way you garden forever. By the end of this 6-part series, you’ll know what’s actually important & applicable in creating the garden of your dreams. Make sure to screenshot the "Good Guys Garden Guide" at the end of this article to know what the superheroes of your garden are. Let’s get growing!

Tip 1: Plan for, don't react to wildlife

Working at a garden center, one of the things I hear the most at the end of May is, “Those rabbits/ deer got all my *insert veggie here* plants again, so I’m back for more.” It’s not “if” the wildlife will attack, it’s “when.” 

Both mammals and insects can be huge frustrations in the garden. But by planning your garden to work with nature, you open up new ways to mitigate damage, and spend less time fussing with plant replacements, active management, and/or damage control throughout the season. 

Try it: Living Fence

One of the first things that many people do when they see signs of mammal damage is to put up a temporary fence. I hate to say it, but if your rabbits are anything like mine, they'll be motivated enough to chew right through. So let’s make it super appetizing for them to stay on the outside of that fence. 

Around the perimeter of your yard, garden, or temporary fence, densely plant a variety of native plants, grasses/ groundcover, flowering shrubs, and flowering annuals. By surrounding your garden with a buffet of delicious options and good nesting habitat, your pests will be too full to worry about what’s on the other side of the fence.. At least that's the goal, right? (: 

https://www.gardenary.com/blog/living-fence

• If you have rabbit problems, I’m talking about planting clover, dandelions, daisies, daylilies, poppies, violets, and marigolds. Native food options include asters, sunflowers, goldenrods, coneflowers, blazing star, and dogwood shrubs.

• Deer issues? Try hostas, daylilies, and yew. For native food options, try switchgrass, rye grass, dogwood, viburnum, elderberry, sumac, and goldenrod.
  

“But Courtney, that’s basically attracting the pests straight to my yard & garden!” Yes, this is what “working with nature” looks like. It’s okay to be a little uncomfortable, that means you’re growing!

Last year, our Mama Bunny had three litters of kits in our garden. The little bunnies hopped amongst our rows of corn and got zoomies under the squash leaves. It was a dream! Ironically, we had little to no damage to our crop. I later researched this phenomenon to find rabbits are scavenging animals and prefer to eat away from home. By providing a nesting habitat and leaving our yard full of clover and dandelions (and sacrificing some poppies) our production crop was left unscathed* 

*disclaimer: Our rabbits are awesome, yours might not be

Try it: Garden Ninja

This next tip is for the superhero in all of us. Have you ever wanted to strategically set up booby traps or have an Avengers Assemble moment where all your superhero friends come together to take down the bad guy? Well, being a garden ninja is the closest thing I’ve found. By using trap plants, smelly plants, and bat-signal plants, you’ll use different plant strengths to your advantage to ward off damage to your production crop. 

1. Trap Plants
   

1. Trap plants are planted sacrificially, because pests really like them. In fact, insect pests like these plants so much that they’ll munch on these plants, rather than your tomatoes and squash. Plant trap plants in and around your beds, but not directly next to your production crops. Trap crops are most effective when in flower or going to seed, so make sure your timing is right. For a comprehensive guide, go here: https://www.gardenia.net/guide/trap-cropping-to-control-pests 

1. Aphids: Nasturtium, Calendula

2. Thrips: Marigolds, basil

3. Squash Bugs: Blue Hubbard Squash

4. Tomato Hornworms: Dill

5. Stink bugs: sunflower, sorghum

2. Smelly Plants

1. Insects rely on their scent for navigation around the world. By planting smelly plants, you’re covered on two fronts. 1) the strong, foul odors will dissuade pests from entering your garden and 2) those odors also mask the smells of your production crop. Lucky for us, these strong smelling plants aren’t foul smelling to humans, and do offer us some pretty flowers and yummy herbs. Plant your smellies around the borders of the garden or in pots within your garden. 

1. Basil, Mint, Oregano, Dill, Chives, Garlic/ Onions, Rosemary, Lavender

3. Bat-signal plants

1. These plants send up the Bat-Signal to all the beneficial insects to summon them to our garden for a round of feasting. Insects like ladybugs, lacewings, hoverflies, praying mantis, and predatory beetles help in the garden because they prey on things like aphids, tomato hornworms, and slugs. By attracting these good-guy insects, they will keep down the pressure from your bad-guy insects. These superheroes like mature, flowering plants to feed from and lay their eggs on. 

2. Cosmos, Sunflowers, Zinnias

3. Flowers of carrot family (cilantro, fill, fennel, parsley),

4. Mints (Rosemary, Thyme, Sage, Oregano, Lavender, Lemon Balm, Basil), 

5. Mustard family flowers (arugula, bok choy, broccoli, collards, kale, radishes, turnips, mustard greens)

6. Asters (Artichokes, chicory, lettuce, sunchokes, sunflowers)

Working with nature is a mindset shift, but once you see the benefits of trying something new, you’ll change how you garden forever! Remember, nature loves balance, diversity, and equilibrium. This year, plant more natives, plant more herbs, plant more annual flowers, and see the benefits of this lazy gardening for yourself.