Identifying garden pests

Garden pests - How do you deal with them?

If you own a garden and love maintaining it yourself, garden pest control and identifying garden pests will be as important to you as the change of the seasons and the course of

the weather. Common garden pests can range from ants and aphids to raccoons, groundhogs, and rabbits. They all leave their mark in unique ways you'll want to be able to identify if you hope to drive them away.

Ants

Ants are six-legged insects that are strong and quick. They only live for about 60 days, but they come in hundreds and propagate rapidly. The colony's queen lays eggs while the worker ants look for food and take care of the young ones. Contrary to what others believe, ants are actually clean insects. But the numbers they can attain in a matter of days makes them a serious garden pest.

Raccoons

Raccoons are common in the United States. They sleep by day and are awake only during the night. Raccoons are highly intelligent and clever, adapting to the way mankind has encroached on their environment. They're considered to be garden pests because they know a free meal when they see one. They will happily help themselves to your vegetables.

Groundhogs

Groundhogs are also ref erred to as woodchucks. They are members of the family of squirrels and are commonly seen in ditches, woodlots, fields, open pastures, and along the roadside. They construct burrows and may live beneath your patio. Groundhogs feed on vegetables and an adult groundhog can eat as much as 2 pounds of vegetables in a day. Two groundhogs can clean out your garden overnight.

Rabbits

However cute rabbits may look, they are still garden pests. They will eat and damage vegetables, trees, fruits, and flowers. The three most common kinds of rabbits are the cottontail, the jackrabbit, and the snowshoe hare. All are vegetable garden pests.

Garden Insects

Aside from these big animals, there are a variety of small flying and non-flying garden pests to watch out for as well. Aphids, wasps, and flies are just some of the examples of small insects that can infest your garden.

These pests, however, can be controlled in various ways. The garden pest control methods can either be organic or chemical-b ased. To guide you further in eradicating them, here are good tips on garden pest prevention:

Continue to: Methods on Natural Garden Pest Control

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