How To Get Rid of Vegetable Garden Pests with These 12 Easy Tips
Do you have vegetable garden pests?
It’s springtime here and I’m busy getting my garden and apple tree ready. I get those pest problems: rabbits, squirrels, voles, aphids, and more in mine during gardening season – how about you? I thought I would share a few tips on things I use to keep those critters out of my vegetable crops without using harsh chemicals, poisons or traps. You have a few options when taking care of your garden: biological control or chemical control. We are already limited with our growing season in Colorado. I have to get the most out of my growing season with my garden plants. Pest control is hard and here are some ways I work to keep those vegetable garden pests out.
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I’ve had my garden in this home for about 16 years now. We have learned if you have bunnies around, you’ll definitely want a fence that will keep them out! We bought this fence at our local hardware store and used screws and fence clips to attach it to our fence. Don’t forget to block off gate entry points as well. I put a row of rocks on the inside of my gate as a deterrent so the pests cannot sneak underneath it.
Marigolds are amazing flowers and give off a terrible smell deterring rabbits and deer. My grandma taught me the trick of planting these in my garden.
Animals don’t like reflective things and get scared by movement. I put these simple pinwheels that I find at Dollar Tree to put in my garden to keep pests out.
Does a bar of Irish spring soap keep mice out of the garden?
Irish Spring Soap bars are an effective way to deter pests like rabbits, deer, mice, voles… as they don’t like the fragrance. This is not universal to all soap products, but seems to only work with an irish spring bar. I grate up bars of irish spring soap with a cheese grater.
Sprinkle the irish spring soap shavings around your garden &/or flower beds if you have a mouse problem.
Put egg shells in your garden – why? It’s said to deter deer, birds eat them thus keeping them out of our plants, and they add calcium to your garden as they decompose. I use them to deter slugs, this has gotten mixed reviews but it seems to work for me.
I get voles in my both my vegetable and flower gardens almost every year. To keep them out I have learned to add moth balls to a mesh bag (or make a cheesecloth drawstring pouch ) and hang them on a short Shepard hook and it seems to act as a repellent. They don’t like the strong scent of the mothballs.
Sprinkle red pepper flakes in the dirt of your garden. It’s known to deter rabbits, deer, skunks, raccoons, cats, dogs. It irritates their lungs and skin, and it will deter not harm animals.
Keep nocturnal animals away by adding solar lights to your garden.
Use a dish soap garden mixture to keep bugs like aphids (they leave a sticky residue behind and you can check the underside of leaves for eggs), and beetles off your plants. Works on both vegetable and flower plants. Make a pepper spray to make your plants taste bad to those pests trying to nibble on your leaves. You can find the ingredients and my full tutorial on how to make these amazing sprays here –Save Your Garden Sprays. I always keep a spray bottle handy!
Feed those pests somewhere else to keep them away from your garden. I made this bird feeder by E6000 a cup to a plate. I put water in the cup, and birdseed on the plate. This keeps the birds away from my garden. You can set scraps of lettuce and other items away from your garden for other animals too. They’ll get used to eating there so they won’t have to go scavenge in your garden.
The squirrels in my apple tree make me crazy! They eat the bark off in the winter when they need food (as do rabbits), and they eat one bite out of an apple and throw it on the ground. GRRR. So I wrap the base of the trunk in tinfoil. This deters them from climbing up the trunk and they don’t like how it’s reflective.
I also add these repurposed CD wind spinners along with bells, chimes, etc to my tree. If the squirrels jump on a branch the bells ring scaring them away, and the cd spinners reflect the light as well as create movement which they don’t like as well. You can find my full tutorial here about these by clicking here.
Now one tip I have is that animals will get used to the items you put in your garden to keep them out. I recommend moving things around every once and a while to change things up and throw them off.
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How To Get Rid of vegetable Garden Pests Video
What is the most common garden pest?
- colorado potato beetles
- tomato hornworms
- cucumber beetles
- cabbage looper
- spider mites
- flea beetles
- Mexican bean beetle
- European corn borer
- squash vine borer
- squash bugs
- cabbage worms
- tobacco hornworm
- corn earworms
- bean leaf beetles
- green caterpillar
- vine borers
- common asparagus beetle
- stink bugs
- white grubs
What are some examples of beneficial insects?
These are some examples of good bugs (natural enemies) that kill or eat the bad bugs.
- parasitic wasps
- lady beetles
- Japanese beetles
How can you control pests without chemicals?
Here are some other ways you can get effective control using effective methods for your home vegetable garden especially if you’re organic gardeners.
- insecticidal soap
- horticultural oil
- natural predators
- diatomaceous earth
Are you ready to work on your garden vegetables and vegetable plants? Don’t forget your weed control in the garden to protect those plants too.
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Check out some of my other garden posts!
Hello again, writing to ask about irish spring soap. I MADE MISTAKE A BOUGHT BLUE BARS,,,,,,,IS THAT GOING TO DO SAME AS THE ORNAGINAL GREEN IRISH SPRING??/ SOME VARMET IS EATING MY TENDER LEAVES OF MY PLANTS,,,,GRRRRR. PLZZ HELP
Hi Christine, I think that should be fine. I was told by another person that they use Ivory soap and that works for them. I’m so sorry to hear you are having trouble. I know it’s so frustrating.
Wow, lots of great ideas! Thanks for sharing them. We have a lot of little flying bugs so I’ll bet the soap tip will help.
Thanks Linda, and me too. Something already deteriorated my green bean plant so I’m starting over with that one.
Do you know if the moth balls keep mice away too? I had one get in my raised beds and ruin my carrots and beets from underground. – Margy
I’m going to have to start keeping some of these in my garage then 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing that tip Margy 🙂
Great tips! I’ve used several of these ideas with a fair amount of success. I’m making note of the CD wind chime and the idea of feeding them elsewhere away from gardent! Thanks for sharing – stopping by today from Simple Homestead blog hop
Thanks Linda and glad to know some of these ideas work for you as well. I hope the extra tips help too. Thanks for stopping by.
If you leave a sports car or any other car in storage, definitely use the GREEN IRISH SPRING BAR SOAP. We STORED the car one winter, in the Spring wires were eaten by rodents. Insurance didn’t pay for the damage–$$$$ expensive lesson. We were told by a mechanic to grate shavings of Irish Spring soap, spread it all over the engine, on the wires and inside the vehicle—done this for years—NO EATEN WIRES OR DROPPINGS ANYWHERE NEAR THE VEHICLE. The vehicle smells so good in the Spring.
Wow, I’m so sorry for your experience and so grateful to you for sharing. Thank you so very much.
I was hoping that you had a solution for groundhogs, lol. Thanks for sharing your gardening tips.
OH Rhonda, those are so tough. I’m so sorry to hear that you are dealing with those! We have some that are on the other end of our neighborhood and I hope they don’t make their way this way. You might be able to try some of these ideas and see if they work. I did find this article that might help – https://www.almanac.com/pest/groundhogs
So many terrific ideas! Pinning as a resource!
Thank you Michele and thanks for the Pin 🙂 I hope these tips can help you too.
All great ideas that we use. Found you on Bloggers Pit Stop link party.
Thank you so much Candy and thanks for stopping by
Fun tips!
Thank you Karl
Great tips, I’ve tried companion planting for black fly and things like that. Luckily we don’t have a lot of trouble in our garden with rabbits and squirrels thankfully but I’ll pin this just in case we ever do.
You are so very lucky Julie 🙂 Thank you for the Pin
Love your garden…so jealous!
Thank you so much Kari 🙂
Great idea to wrap the trunk of the tree in foil – genius!!!
Thank you so much Lee-Ann and I hope this comes in handy for you too.
Chas, what a great garden setup you have. So many ideas to keep your plants safe. We will feature this on the next Blogger’s Pit Stop.
Kathleen
Blogger’s Pit Stop
Thank you so very much Kathleen for the feature and thanks for hosting a wonderful place for all of us to share our creations.
It’s so helpful to have all these great tips in one post! Thank you!
Thank you Joy and I hope some of these help you as well.
These are some great tips! I especially love the one about marigolds. I didn’t know that their smell deterred animals. Thanks for sharing your tips with us at Merry Monday this week!
Thank you Marie, and thanks for stopping by.
I have tried many of these. Physical barriers have worked best for me. A high fence kept the deer out. Hardware cloth in the bottom of our raised beds kept the gophers out. The raccoons and rabbits weren’t too greedy. I had it pretty easy for years until the ground squirrels found us.
It took me a couple of weeks to discover who had been cutting my tomatoes down at ground level, one plant a day. Nothing was safe. The farmers at farmers market didn’t really have a solution. They had enough growing so a few plants weren’t going to leave them too short. I’ve never had very good luck with traps. Noise didn’t bother them. The cats left them alone. I did not want to bring in poisons. I finally gave up gardening at that location. It was becoming stressful instead of relaxing. It was easier and not too much more expensive to just buy my food at farmers markets.
Thanks Barbara for sharing your story. I’m glad to hear that the barrier worked as long as it did. I’m so sorry to hear about the ground squirrels, what a pain. I love that you have used the local farmers market to relieve the stress for you. We have a farm we go to most falls that we can right on a hay rack and go to all the fields and dig out and collect produce. We usually do that for the fun, experience, and collecting as much as we can to get through the winter.
Oh my word, what a great list of ideas! I’ve heard of some of them (thank you, grandmas who passed along the marigold tip!), but some are completely new to me.
Thanks so much for joining the Grace at Home party at Imparting Grace. I’m featuring you this week!
I’m so glad that I could share some tips with you that might help others as well. Thank you so very much for the tip! I truly appreciate it.
What great, easy, doable ideas! Pinning.
Thank you so much Donna and thanks for the Pin.
Any ideas for getting rid of chipmunks?
Hi Sandra, Pepper spray should work if they’re eating something. Here is an article that I found that might help too – https://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Chipmunks
good advice here, thank you so much. i would like to ask you, do you know what i could use to rid my yard of IGUANAS? i live in Venezuela and they are a pest. they can strip a good size shrub in a matter of hours. dogs don’t scare them either. someone suggested a commercial repellant but it is unavailable here. i would prefer a more natural way of keeping them from my babies…
Thank you Carol. I recommend putting fence like chicken wire around them. It’s inexpensive and should do the trick.
Marigolds will keep grasshoppers away.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Lots of great tips! I’m going to have to try a few, thanks for sharing!
Thank you Sarah, I’m thrilled you want to try some 🙂
I knew about the marigolds but the others are new to me. Great info. I am going to put some pinwheels in my garden this week. Great info thanks! #trafficjamweekend
Thanks Tracy, I”m thrilled that you have some new things to try. Move those pinwheels around once and a while as the animals get used to them. Keep them on their toes 😉
Such great ideas here! Thanks so much for sharing on the Simple Homestead Blog Hop. You are one of our features this week!
Thank you so much and thank you for the feature. You’ve made my day! I hope you have a great week and I’ll see you at the next link up.
Super ideas – thank you for sharing! I had not heard of the grated soap – will be giving it a try!
Thank you so much Melissa and I’m thrilled you want to give it a try. Hope it works great for you too.
Thanks for sharing these wonderful anti-pest tips with Creative Compulsions!
Michelle
mybijoulifeonline.com
Thank you so much Michelle, I hope they help others too.
Thanks for all the wonderful ideas without harmful chemicals. I want to feature this on the next Blogger’s Pit Stop. Congratulations on a great post.
Kathleen
You are so very sweet Kathleen, thank you so much. It’s always been important to me to reduce chemicals in our home/lives, and it became even more important after fighting breast cancer this last year.
I live in the Colorado foothills where we have wildlife galore. It is very hard to deter them from gardens as they seem to learn how to defy every trick…lol. I do plant marigolds and lavender which they don’t like, but they will still go around those plants and eat the others. I will try your hot pepper spray and see if that works. Anything I want to protect has to be surrounded by chicken wire–all my roses are wrapped up!
Hi Pat, I’m in Fort Collins, CO and I totally know what you’re saying. I will say that after each rain, you’ll have to spray the plants again. Chicken wire is definitely one of your best defenses. Also moving the spinners around will help a little. They do get used to them, so I move them a lot.
I am cursed with slugs and land snails. If I want to make it rain, I put out saucers of beer for the slugs. Invariably, it rains and I’ve wasted another PBR! They even eat the marigolds. NOW I hang my basil from the side of the house as they decimate that, too. One year I got so mad after a rainy stretch that I took a pair of extra spaghetti tongs and hand picked them off! (Ditto for tomato horn worms–no way I’m touching THEM!) I’ve had critters chew on car wires; I put a few mothballs in a bit of onion bag under the hood. Good to check the air filter, too! I plant mothballs with my tulip bulbs (daffodils are poisonous if eaten so critters leave them alone). Deters mice, moles, and deer. I’ve put mothballs down critter holes. I bought a yard sale Hav-a-Heart trap but I am afraid I might catch a skunk! Then, who do I hate enough to leave a woodchuck in THEIR yard? Using an old mirror attached to a stick lets you check the underside of leaves for catepillar/insect egg clusters (I hate cucumber beetles and potato bugs!) I think with everyone’s hints you can do another post!
Hi Kathy – love reading your comment – thank you so much for sharing all of this information. I truly appreciate it and your incredible gardening journey.
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Thank you for sharing at #OverTheMoon. Pinned and shared. Have a lovely week. I hope to see you at next week’s party too! Please stay safe and healthy. Come party with us at Over The Moon! Catapult your content Over The Moon! @marilyn_lesniak @EclecticRedBarn
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Thanks Marilyn, I’ll see you at the next one.
Great tips, Chas. Thank you for sharing at Party In Your PJ’s.
Thank you so much Ann 🙂
Such great tips. Some of these are new to me and I’ll definitely try them. Thanks for sharing with us at Charming Homes and Gardens Link Party!
Rachel.
Thank you very much Rachel, and I hope they work as great for you as they do me.
Congratulations! Look for your feature on Wednesday’s Charming Home & Garden Link Party
Rachel
Thank you so much Rachel, and I’ll see you at the next one.
This has been the most informative post! I knew about marigolds and egg shells, but that’s about it! I was really surprised by the Irish Spring advice! We have so many slugs and deer here. I’m so happy that you are being featured at the Charming Homes and Gardens party!
Thank you so much Kim and I’m thrilled there are some tips here that might help you too. Thank you so much for the feature!
Great tips Chas. I would like to share this link on my weekly blog post to share with my gardening friends.
Thank you Kim and you are so very sweet for sharing. Thank you so much!
Brilliant ideas Chas – I can’t wait to try the anti-squirrel ones! Thanks for passing Grandma’s wisdom along. 🙂 Hope you have a lovely day my friend!
You are so very sweet Barbara, and I hope these tips help you as much as they have helped me 🙂 Hugs to you!
I was wondering on the Irish spring in the garden, how often do you have to put more out to keep the squirrels away? We have not had a squirrel problem on our acreage for 30 years but last year they started showing up and eating my vegetables. I’m determined to send them packing, lol!
Hi Lynette. I replace it as it dissappears (rain, disolving, etc). Squirrels can be a bit tricky and what we have round really effective is making a mixture of sunflower seeds, peanut butter, and vanilla extract. We place that inside a live trap, catch the squirrels and relocate them.