If you think that once with the warm season almost ending, your garden pests are going to take a break until next spring, you can’t be more wrong. It is true that you picked up your crops and cereals, but now the pests enjoy more than ever the delicious ripe goodies of your vegetable and even flower garden, so you should be prepared for significant damage.
The Green and Brown Chinch Bugs
You may be familiar with a family member of this bug species, the bedbug, a common pest that gives a lot of trouble to homeowners, but the green and brown chinch bugs are even more annoying and dangerous. They start imposing their pesky presence starting with September – October and seem to have a soft spot for forest fruit cultures, green vegetables and even ornamental flowers.
They look quite harmless, but they are autumn’s predilection pests and might bring a world of trouble if not properly controlled and exterminated. You can use chemicals, of course, but it’s safer and equally efficient to prepare a natural repellent out of chili pepper and garlic which you can pulverize over the plants and legumes affected by these creatures.
Termites
These little destroyers are dangerous no matter the season, so be careful not to smooth their path towards your house and ease their work by offering them welcoming conditions. Preparing for the cold season you probably are in the process of trimming and cleaning the yard, the garden and the crops, ordering out the tools, making some room in the cupboard and so on. While you’re there, make sure there you don’t leave wood waste on the ground, you don’t leave paper or furniture outside the house unprotected, and you don’t deposit wood or paper products without the care of keeping them dry and termite-protected at any cost.
You also should take advantage of your pest control termite bond or even pay the termite treatment cost just to be sure. Don’t rest on the idea that in winter the soil freezes. It’s enough for them to install comfortably under your wooden floors or in your walls or attic and tear up your house by next spring.
Snails and Slugs
If you had a wet, moist summer, don’t ignore the snails and slugs, as they like your ripe green veggies in this season and if you already managed to have some young crops, they will love you for that. Remember that between the eggs lay and the actual pests to arrive, there are twenty days of silence, so don’t breathe easily yet, as you might find some unwanted guests when you less expect them.
A slug invasion is the last thing you need in your garden, so keep them away by adding between the vegetables rows coffee grounds or raw egg shells. They don’t seem to like coffee, so it might help you repel them.
Rodents
Well, these, just as termites, are a peril in any season and a hard enemy to defeat. They chew and gnaw on everything with a crunchy feature on it and are so persistent. They can affect the crops of the next spring if you have already planted or are about to plant flower or vegetable bulbs or roots that are planned to raise their heads above the ground starting with the next year’s warm season.
Rats, mice, gophers, they are all pests, no matter if some look cute and innocent. Traditional extermination methods are usually the ones implemented, but you can use mechanical traps, natural pesticides or you can flood some of the underground galleries if you’re sure this won’t affect your crops.
