Killing things

Gardening feels like a benevolent activity because one is creating life out of the dirt. But it reverse is also true. To be successful, the gardener must become well versed in the various methods of slaughtering other species.

Through early May, we'd been lucky to avoid pest infestation in the garden of any kind. The paper tubes around the fledgling tomato plants were unnecessary defenses. Then my parents visited and my dad jinxed the whole thing by commenting how pest-free our garden was. The moment they left, wave after wave of intruders descended. 

I can't say I've seen it all in these last few weeks, but I've faced my share of enemies large and small. It started when large hunks of the new passiflora plant in the center of the fence -- the extravagantly named "Lady Margaret" variety --  started to disappear.

• Small black flies were on the underbelly of the plant's leaves. They seemed too small to do this kind of damage, but what do I know. Urban Sustainable's solution was insecticidal soap, a concoction made of potassium salts and fatty acids that destroys the flies' exoskeletons. Awesome. 

 Unfortunately, every time I sprayed the plant with the soap (at night, as Urban Sustainable guys suggested), it immediately rained, so I can't tell how effective it would have been. Eventually, I just pulled off the damaged leaves and the carnage slowed. I took this picture today, though, so it's clearly not over and is likely the result of slugs.

• The other night I noticed this same poor plant was covered in little orange ants. Back to the soap I went, and they seem eradicated.

•  Once it warmed up, I also noticed the hard surfaces of the property were infested with tiny red bugs that I assumed were carnivorous because they leave a nasty blood-like stain when you squish them. In fact, they are herbivorous spider mites. These tiny bastards operate on the cellular level, sucking the liquid out of the cells in plant leaves. I found an organic pesticide at Home Depot that kills these things instantaneously, but it's so hard to see them on plants that I've taken to spraying down the top of the entire brick wall with the solution. Ladybugs also prey on spider mites, and hopefully more than the two or three I've seen around will swoop in and gobble these things up. There's certainly no shortage.

• Roaches are unavoidable in any city, but I wasn't prepared for how many would appear in the yard and on the parking pad during nights this spring. I know stomping on them is an ineffective method of control, but it's satisfying. I tried boric acid but spread it too thickly it seems -- the best method, I've read, is to use just a light dusting because otherwise they'll walk right by a drift. Removing a pile of broken concrete and bricks from the parking pad corner also really helped. That's probably my best advice: keep down the clutter and debris in your yard and populations will remain small(er). Unfortunately, the homemade composter seems to be a big draw for them and regular-old flies and there's not much I can do about that except shake it a lot.

• I had assumed that the rats living in our side yard wall were seeking their revenge on some of our plants by nipping off whole leaf stems from the tomato and pepper plants I had recently transplanted. One poor poblano plant was totally decapitated. With chemical warfare not an option here, I overreacted instead with technology in the tried and true American fashion. Ok, I built a big ugly cage. 

It is made from a roll of wire mesh available in the garden section of Home Depot. I cut it into two pieces and bent it into the angles needed to make a crude box, then secured it with leftover toe rail (what I made the trellises out of). It's four feet high so I can use it with tomato trellises later. I also bought a plastic net for the top once there's fruit to defend from birds. The whole thing is held together with this awesome outdoor velcro.

I read in the comments section of a post on Prince of Petworth this week, though, that the original assailant was likely starlings, not rats or squirrels. They clip plants to use for nests. Either way, the cage is doing the trick and the damaged plants are recovering -- even the headless poblano.

Deterring things is obviously a lot easier than killing them off, so I hope other measures we worked into the garden plan will perform as expected. I planted basil between the tomatoes to deter flies and Christine put in a section of marigolds in front of the box to keep worms and beetles away. With a really bad stink bug season predicted, we'll see how we fare.