Do you know who is in your garden right now? I mean, do you really know?  The only way to know is by visiting your garden at different times throughout the day. Yes, I know that takes a little more time and planning but you can be smart about it. For example, do your weeding in the morning on Mondays and Wednesdays, and do your watering in the evenings on Tuesday, Thursdays and Saturdays.  Midday is hottest and I’d venture to guess you’ll see the least action but hang out for 5-10 minutes and just browse your beds slowly. Usually we’re so focused on completing a task that sometimes we don’t stop to just observe and you’ll be surprised to learn who is creeping around. There’s a black snake that sleeps under the bin where I store stuff and there are two crows who dart in and out of my berries.

In the mid-Atlantic my two garden frenemies are squash bugs and Japanese beetles. Last year the squash bugs decimated my zucchini and cucumbers. The year before that the Japanese beetles feasted on my beans. It’s so frustrating to put in all the work, see everything start to blossom, and then from one week to the next, game over.

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I prefer not to use any pesticides in my garden, so this year I’ve been focused on two strategies – prevention or distraction. 

Prevention: I go out to my garden nearly every morning and inspect my squash plants. I turn over the leaves and I examine the stems of the plants. You’d be amazed at all the critters you find hanging out, to which I say, “Grrr, nobody invited you to this party!” I typically just smoosh them with my hand and if I see eggs on the leaves, I scrape them off with my finger nail. I’m also experimenting with a spray I made myself (#MIM) of 1 tsp peppermint oil and 1 tsp tea tree oil in 1 cup of water. After I’ve cleaned away the critters, I’m spraying the underside of the leaves and it seems to be working. The other prevention strategy is to keep your squash plants covered with fabric. I will likely experiment with this next year.

Distraction: You may want to consider various options for companion planting, nasturtium is highly recommended and I planted it near my beans, peas and asparagus and to be honest I don’t see a lot of bug action in those areas so it seems to be working. The other approach I’m using is planting a few of the crops I really want to ensure succeed in different locations, for example a big container near my front porch. I know the bugs can still find them but I’m hoping they leave these ones alone. Along these same lines is to stagger your planting. Such as putting out 3-4 squash plants in June, and then 3-4 more in July if your growing zone accommodates this. I guess it’s technically more sacrificial than distracting but it’s working so far.