#4 Sustainable Pests and Disease Control

There are many different green ways to control pests and disease from everyday products obtained from around the house.

One simple way of controlling slugs and snails from some of your favorite plants is to place a tuna can full of beer right next to the base of the plant. The beer can sit there for a long period (1-2 months) of time where you don’t have to constantly replace it. The snails and slugs are attracted to the beer so they don’t invade the plant.

A mixture of canola oil(tablespoon), ivory soap(tablespoon) and water(2 cups) creates a natural insecticide for aphids, mites, and mealybugs. Put all these ingredients in a regular size spray bottle and spray the top and bottom of the leaves every other day for a week.

Beneficial insects such as prey mantis, ladybugs, hover-flies, and lacewings are a good way to controlling the pests in your garden. The only problem is that if you apply the oil, soap mixture to the plants it will also affect these guardian bugs, so be wise when applying.

If you have mildew growing on top of the leaves of your plants due to overhead sprinkler water, a simple spray solution of 1-3 parts milk to water can handle much of the problem. This solution also helps for rust and black spots on roses.

Paul Peguero

#3 Plant Native Species

Growing plants in your garden that are native to your region is one of the best ways of having a great garden with little to no maintenance. There are so many different types of native species in California alone that creating a beautiful landscape should be easy. Many times I hear that native species don’t have the colorful foliage and flowers as the non natives do, but this is completely wrong. There are multiple species that can carry color year around and also be carefree.

For many the hardest part involving native species is finding which plants are native and also where to find them? Nurseries are starting to carry more and more native species and by just asking any trained personal at a nursery or home improvement store you can find out which plants are native. There are also many resources that categorize many of the California native species into a book or internet site. One great book is “California Native Plants for the Garden” by Carol Bornstein, David Fross, and Bart O’Brian. Another beneficial resource would be the California Native Plant Society at http://www.cnps.org/.

If there are any more ways we at Landsystems Landscapes can help out, let me know at paulp@lsls.com and I will get back to you as soon as possible. You can also view our other sites on Flicker or Facebook with the links directly on the site.

Paul Peguero

#2 Switch your outdated irrigation system to a new drip irrigation system.

Even if you have a monitored automatic system, switching to drip irrigation in areas that don’t need a heavy spray can be very beneficial to saving water. Areas such as planting beds, large shrubs, trees, and even low ground covers can be watered by water efficient drip irrigation systems. By going to your local home improvement center you will find many different varieties for the multiple options in drip irrigation. There are attachments for drip irrigation that allow for connection to existing sprinkler systems so it makes it easy to update your system. Not only will you be helping the environment be saving water, but you will also be saving money on your monthly water bill!

Tune into next week for more Green Gardening tips!

Paul P