As Spring makes a (fabulous) reappearance to my life, I pull up the project I’ve been eyeing since before we even finished building our house… a garden! I need my plants as much as they need me, like more children, you may even call them plant babies. But nature will take its course and hurt my plants as they land themselves a spot on the lowest rank on the food chain. Aphids eating tomatoes, gardenias having weird yellow leaves, or even animals looking for a tasty treat, the list goes on and on. I’m here to help fight that and let you and your plants thrive peacefully – and naturally.

Aphids on my tomatoes. The name even sounds gross and just thinking of them makes my skin crawl. First, on any plant, you need to identify them and take them out ASAP because they will eat and kill your plants. These pests usually gather in numbers, clinging to soft and new leaves and stems and sucking the nutrients straight from them, leaving yellowed or curled leaves and messed up fruits and flowers. The plant ‘victims’ can also be covered in a sticky substance from the aphid’s recent meal of sap from the plant. All of this sounds incredibly crazy but here are some ways to scare off these tiny monsters:
– Ladybugs. These insects feed off of aphids and are beautiful.

• Cold water. A quick spray of the old fashioned icy water will knock off most if not all aphids effectively and they usually won’t find their way to the same plant!
• Diatomaceous Earth. You can find this fun to pronounce product at most gardening stores like Tractor Supply or Lowe’s. Just be sure to not spread it during bloom for the plants, it’ll damage the blossoms at that stage!

My gardenias are getting yellow leaves. These plants are beautiful and fragrant but also require some work. They need approximately 1 inch of water every week so if you get a lot of rain like us right now, you should probably cover your plant if possible. Too much water as well as a lack of iron and magnesium can lead to yellowing (needs a Ph between 5.0 and 6.0) If you see green veins within your yellowed leaves; cold weather, lack of sunlight, or just nutrient deficiencies will likely be the cause. Of course, these all have pretty simple fixes like just adding iron powder, setting your plant inside or in the sun, or laying compost and manure around the plant for a nutrition boost. You can get a lot of this on Amazon or maybe even at Lowes!  I just purchased Miracle Gro’s Organic line to give nutrients to all of my plants.

 Animals eating your garden. Animals are cute, yes, but they eat your food before you eat it yourself.  Here are some tips to keep them at bay:

• Garlic clippings. These smell odd to animals and they will keep their distance from your plants.
• Hot pepper and cayenne pepper natural sprays on your plants or around the perimeter will bust nibbling habits from rabbits and others.
• Pets! Dogs and cats can be crazy in the garden but they scare off anything in a large radius including snakes even if they don’t eat your plants.
• Fences are effective also. We don’t have fences around our garden yet but they are soon to come. Our last garden was left untouched when we had a fence and proved to be amazing!

As you try to nurture your plants, nature will want to take its toll on it. Of course, hoping these tips helped identify your troubles and deter them, gardening will be more relaxing and fun for you and the family.