Patio Ponds and Gardens

Weeds

Any plant that grows where you don’t want it is a weed. Period. Weeds compete with garden plants for light, water, and nutrients, often depriving your plants of what they need to grow, and in the case of bindweed and vines even smothering other plants by wrapping themselves around the garden plant and choking them. Common methods for controlling weeds include pulling them up by hand; digging them out; and cutting them off using a hoe. If you must weed the best tool is a scuffle hoe which cuts the weed off below ground level. One way to slow the growth of weeds is to cover the soil with a layer of mulch, which blocks out the light and air that weeds need to grow. Weeds also can be controlled by treating them with a weed killer, or herbicide. Like fertilizers, weed killers can be organic or synthetic and work quite well in the garden.

Insects

Some insects damage plants by chewing the leaves or other plant parts.Others suck the liquid from the plant, or in some cases, by transmitting viruses. Companion planting reduces damage by insects by growing a variety of plants in the garden, avoiding mono cultures that are easy for the pests to find.

Different plants attract different insects, including some that attack insect pests. Another method for preventing insect damage is to cover young plants with a floating row cover, which is a very thin, white, gauzy blanket that keeps many insects away from the plants. A variety of plants are bred for resistance to insect pests.

Natural Pest Control

Ladybugs or Ladybirds beetles, have had their name since the Middle Ages, when people looked upon them as a gift because of their wonderful eating habits. As both larvae and adults, ladybugs feed on aphids and other pests in the garden making them a top choice for many gardeners. They can be bought at some garden stores and released gardens to stave off aphids.
Another beneficial insect to the garden is the wasp and the yellow jacket. Yellow jackets and paper wasps prey on caterpillars and other larvae that can destroy crops.

Some insects can be kept in check by introducing beneficial bacteria or insects to the garden. This method exploits the natural ecological relationships between garden pests and other organisms. Ladybugs, for instance, eat aphids, one of the more notorious garden insect pests, and certain types of bacteria kill insect larva. Another method to help control insects in vegetable and flower gardens is to rotate crops instead of growing the same type of plant in the same place every year. Many insects have a life cycle that depends on the presence of a certain type of plant. By removing the plant for at least two years, the life cycle can be interrupted, thus controlling the pest. Both organic and synthetic insect-killing materials, called insecticides, also are available to control pests.

Diseases

Most types of plant-related diseases are caused by fungi. The leaves of this plant have been infected by tar-spot fungus. Fungi can infect all parts of the plant including leaves, flowers,stems, roots, and fruit. The physical manifestations of fungal diseases of plants include wilting, club root, root rot, wood rot, cankers, various types of mildews, blights, lesions, and leaf spots.

The best approach to disease prevention is to provide plants with optimum soil, nutrients, light, and water so they can fight off disease, or grow plants that have been bred for disease resistance or have natural resistance.

n most cases, once a plant has a disease caused by fungi, bacteria, or viruses it cannot be saved, though some fungal diseases can be controlled with a fungicide. Do not compost diseased plants since the fungus or disease causing bacteria can survive to reinfect soil amended with the contaminated compost. Burn them or dispose of in the trash.