All gardens will have bugs in them, but most bugs will contribute to the ecosystem that you have created in your lawn. However, if certain types of bugs take residence in your garden, your plants could become sickly or even be killed. Instead of spraying when you discover that you have pests, you can take steps to protect your garden from pests before they even take up residence.

Location

Pests will go after weak or stressed plants. Keeping your garden healthy is the best way to prevent pests from attacking your plants. This means regular maintenance and care, as well as ensuring that your plants are receiving the proper amount of sunlight and water. For this reason, where you place certain plants in your garden plays a large role in how healthy they are. Ensure that all of your plants are in a location that is well suited for them to prevent them from falling ill and prey to pests.

Avoid Damage

Just like a wound in a human body is a pathway for infection, a damaged tree trunk or ripped leaf can allow pests a way into a plant. To prevent this, ensure that your gardening tools are sharp and make clean cuts. Sharpen your lawn mower blades, hedge trimmers and any other tools as needed. If plants become damaged in thunderstorms or acts of nature, trim them accordingly to prevent leaving ragged cuts in the plant.

Crop Rotation

If possible, move your plants every year to a new location. This is because pests often lay eggs in the soil. If you change the plants that are planted in the area, the pests that hatch the next year will likely be unable to find a host in the new plants. This also allows your plants to grow healthier, as it prevents mineral depletion in certain areas of the garden, as every plant takes different nutrients from the soil.

Conservative Fertilisation

Be sure to only fertilise a minimal amount. Over fertilising your plants can lead to rapid growth, which provides a great environment for pests to find a home in. Plants that grow at a normal rate are much harder to infect than plants that have excess growth.

Encourage Predators

Installing bird houses, bird baths, ponds for toads and frogs, or even not killing the spiders you see outside can help prevent your pest problem. These natural predators will help keep the pest population under control and your plants healthy. Your local pest control professional, like Bernie's Pest Control, can help you as you get started.