CONTROL ISSUES
The spring garden is a demanding companion, like a headstrong puppy on a long leash. Lengthening days and warming weather bring on a tsunami of growth that threatens to swallow us whole. Before I get too tangled in the myriad details of the peak growing season and a rapidly expanding garden, I try to remember to insert some gentle controls. Garden structures furnish the landscape with arresting focal points as they corral growth and provide additional vertical growing space. Addressing emerging pests and disease early in the season puts you out in front of the battle. With any luck, you’ll strike a healthy balance and reduce problems for the rest of the growing season.
PLAN
Assess the growing season: jot down notes in your garden journal about weather conditions, plant performance, and favorite varieties
PREPARE AND MAINTAIN
Keep up with weeding and patrol for pests (especially slugs)
Monitor and tend indoor seedlings
Fertilize bulbing onions and garlic
Build or purchase vertical gardening supports and place in garden
Warm up soil with plastic sheeting
Pre-sprout pole and bush beans (late in month)
Pot up tomato, eggplant, and pepper seedlings as necessary
Harvest comfrey, nettles, and horsetail; add the nonflowering leaves and stems to the compost for a nutritious boost
START SEEDS INDOORS
Basil
Cucumber
Melons
Pumpkins
Summer squash
Sunflowers
Plant potatoes
Succession sow quick-growing, cool-season crops as the first plantings are harvested
TRANSPLANT HOMEGROWN OR NURSERY STARTS
Broccoli
Cabbage
Kohlrabi
Herbs
Leeks
Lettuce and salad greens
Onions
Peas
DIRECT SOW
Arugula
Asian greens
Beets
Carrots
Chard
Fava beans
Kale
Kohlrabi
Lettuce and salad greens
Parsnips
Radishes
Rapini
Spinach
HARVESTING NOW…
Arugula TIP harvest flowers and seed heads
Asian greens
Asparagus
Chard
Chervil
Chives
Fennel
Green onions
Kale TIP harvest flowers and seed heads
Lettuce and salad greens (undercover)
Parsley
Pea tips
Purple sprouting broccoli
Rapini
Rhubarb
Radishes
Spinach
Garden support structures can be constructed out of a variety of materials, and in a range of complexity and formality.
Vertical gardening is a key component to maximizing your growing area. By training vines on teepees, trellises, arbors, and other garden structures, you free up space at the ground level for planting in dynamic and productive layers. You can also use garden structures to control, stake, and prop up fruiting plants which threaten to flop under their own weight or are prone to sprawling in an untidy tangle (cane berries, peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, and fava beans are examples). Furthermore, staking plants promotes good air circulation and allows sunlight to reach ripening fruit. This is a big advantage in our damp and cloudy climate where crops like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants are slow to mature and subject to fungal diseases that flourish on wet foliage.
Vertical features provide more than just practical garden support. They play a valuable design role by adding interest and punctuating the otherwise unbroken ground plane where most edible plant action takes place. Arbors and pergolas create a sense of destination, while trellises, fencing, and walls define the space. An open-work fence enclosing the garden provides additional vertical growing space and effectively keeps out low-treading critters such as rabbits, cats, and dogs; deer, unfortunately, will happily dine on any fruiting vines and climbing vegetables they can reach.
You can craft a variety of garden supports from everyday materials such as bamboo poles, rebar, lumber, and wire fencing. A basic three-legged tripod (or larger teepee) provides height, practicality, and style; it’s quick and easy to construct (just lash poles together with twine or a few zip ties) and just as easy to take down and store for the winter. Collect style points by using elegantly modern black bamboo, rusty metal bars, or wooden poles painted in brilliant colors that pop against the green of a summer garden.
Clever recycling and found objects present a resourceful option and lend unique personality to utilitarian forms. Even something as unremarkable as an old bike can become a witty focal point and useful supportive structure when smothered in waves of peppery edible nasturtiums. Pre-made garden features are also available at all prices points from high-end ornate metal arches and obelisks to humble latticework and the ubiquitous wirework tomato cage. Custom designs are limited only by your imagination, your access to crafts people, and your pocketbook.
Match plant habit to garden structure design. Pole beans, for example, climb by twining around narrow supports; slim poles, open-wire fencing, and twine provide slender support for the winding stems. Other vines, like peas, send out wispy, curling tendrils along their main shoots which encircle anything they can, hoisting the plants higher as if climbing rung by rung. For these grasping plants, provide plenty of support with a wire grid or netting, or short lengths of twiggy branches traditionally called “pea-sticks.” Melons, cucumbers, pumpkins, and squash have tendrils but need to be tied to a sturdy framework to support the weight of their large vines and ripening fruit.
Position garden structures long before plants need the support. Once the season is underway and growth quickens, it’s almost impossible to place trellises and cages without damaging roots and breaking fragile stems. Also be sure to securely anchor your trellis so it can withstand the occasional windstorm or heavy rain and support the weight of mature plants. Disappointment is a gust of wind toppling your pea fence just as you’re ready to harvest, or helplessly watching your tomato plants, heavy with ripe fruit, tumble a wimpy wire cage.
Consider the harvester’s height when constructing garden structures. Trained and trellised plants should be easier on your back when it comes time to harvest, offering their ripe crops at convenient picking height, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve grown a bumper crop of pole beans on towering bamboo teepees only to have to drag out the step ladder in order to reach my bounty. Check seed packets and resources to anticipate the plants mature size. Or find a tall harvest assistant.
Nothing is more annoying than discovering that something uninvited is eating its way through your vegetable patch. The inclination to launch an all-out assault with a take-no-prisoners attitude may be tempting, but this approach is unsustainable, dangerous, and loaded with severe collateral environmental damage. Instead, pick your backyard battles carefully.
VISIBLE DAMAGE | PEST OR DISEASE |
Leaves show notched or ragged edges, or are riddled with holes clean through. Young sprouts are “cut down” just above soil level. Damage may or may not be accompanied by a telltale slime trail. | Chewing and skeletonizing pests: caterpillars, adult weevils, sawfly larvae, bean beetles, cutworms, slugs, and snails. |
Leaves are dotted, stippled, or pocked by tiny speckles. Severe infestation are often accompanied by a sticky “honey dew” or black sooty mold. | Sucking and stippling pests: aphids, scale, flea beetles, spider mites, and thrips. |
Dark rusty tunnels in root crops, wilting plants despite adequate watering. | Root-eating pests: carrot rust fly larvae, cabbage maggot, root weevil larvae, and cabbage moth maggots. |
Tunneling within leaves, rolled leaves, webbing, and spit-like gobs. | Self-protecting pests: leaf miners, leaf rollers, webworms, and spit bugs. |
Powdery coating on leaves and stems. | Fungal disease: powdery mildew. |
Orange blister-like spots on foliage. | Fungal disease: rust. |
Dark blotches on stems and leaves, followed by quickly decaying fruit. | Fungal disease: late blight. |
Grey moldy spots on leaves, flowers, stems, and berries. | Fungal disease: botrytis. |
Generally, I try and adopt a live-and-let-live tolerance to all my gardens’ inhabitants. Peaceful coexistence or lazy indifference? However you want to characterize it, I would rather spend my time and energy on just about any other garden task than chasing down bugs. I much prefer a daily stroll through the garden to assess growth, observe changes, and make notes of any tasks that need attention. This is a great way to monitor the health of your crops and keep alert to emerging problems before things get out of hand.
Our gardens are part of a larger living system in which predator and pest compete. A healthy, organic garden is home to many beneficial insects and visiting birds that are more than happy to feast on aphids, cutworms, and other garden pests. The less we interfere with this natural balance the better. Building good soil, properly placing and caring for plants, and cultivating a diverse mix of plants to attract beneficial insects and pollinators are your best bets for maintaining a healthy, productive, edible garden. Stressed plants are a magnet for pest and disease infestations. Strong, vigorously growing plants can outstrip pest damage and fend off disease.
But discovering a slimy trail where there once was a row of seedlings is aggravating. And finding a tiny slug in the salad bowl—however clean it might be after a twirl in the salad spinner—is downright alarming and a real spoiler at the dinner table. When pests are feasting faster that you can plant, or when your family becomes fearful of dinner, it’s time to take action.
Knowing the enemy is a vital component of effective organic pest and disease management: you can’t control the problem until you identify what you’re up against. Often our first indication that a pest or disease is present is when we notice damaged plants or impaired growth. Are leaves chewed or stippled? Is there a slimy trail where the lettuce starts used to be? Refer to the opposite chart to identify the likely culprit corresponding to your plant’s visible damage.
Once you have correctly identified the problem and the culprit, the battle is already half-won. Different pests require different controls so knowing that you’re dealing with slugs, not cutworms, makes a world of difference. Organic gardeners can choose from a variety of controls. Whether you pick, spray, bait, or cover, success is more likely when you work with the natural cycles already at work in a healthy garden. Access reference books, websites, your local Master Gardener, horticultural hotlines and the staff at your local garden center for advice on what control—if any—is necessary. I’m always intrigued to watch the predators move in and do the dirty work themselves.
Disease, unfortunately, is a regional fact of life in PNW gardens. Mild winters, wet springs, and the occasional cool summer provide perfect conditions for a variety of fungal diseases to flourish. Prevention is the key to disease control. Select healthy, disease-resistant plants and practice good garden hygiene. Most fungal diseases incubate on wet foliage. While there’s little we can do about the weather, adequate spacing and pruning to promote good air circulation go a long way toward offsetting the effects of our damp climate. Water susceptible plants, like tomatoes, peppers, squash, and cucumbers, early in the day so that their leaves dry quickly and remove infected plants and fruit immediately to prevent the disease from spreading.
KITCHEN CUPBOARD ORGANICS
Many of the ingredients you need to control pests and disease in the PNW garden are probably already in your kitchen cupboard. These tried-and-proven recipes are considerably better for the environment than pesticides and will save you some monetary “green” as well.
Insect spray. To make a homemade insecticide for soft-bodied pests, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of liquid soap (I like Dr. Bronner’s peppermint) to 1 quart of water; then mix well and transfer to a spray bottle. When spraying, keep in mind that you must actually hit the pest for the solution to be effective.
Slug bait on tap. Set shallow, wide-mouthed, disposable saucers at soil level in the garden and fill with beer. Slugs and snails cannot resist the alcohol’s allure and, eager to imbibe, they will fall in and drown. You’ll understand why I recommend using disposable saucers when it’s time to collect receptacles filled with dead slugs and stale beer; start saving those yogurt cups, tuna fish cans, and sour cream containers.
Pest repellant. In a blender, puree 3 cloves of garlic, 1 small onion, and 1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper. Pour 1 quart of boiling water over the mixture and steep overnight. Strain cooled solution, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of liquid soap, and mix well. Transfer to a spray bottle and douse targeted plants; reapply after rain.
Sticky traps. To control pests which are too tiny to pick or too mobile to hit with a spray, make your own sticky traps out of sturdy cardboard or plastic, cut into pieces that measure 5 by 7 inches. Insects are attracted to the color yellow so you can increase the effectiveness of your traps by painting them yellow or starting with yellow cardboard (like a cereal box). Smear both sides of the trap liberally with petroleum jelly and staple the trap to a wooden garden stake. Position the stake so the trap is just above the foliage of beans, eggplants, and any plant in the cabbage family. Dispose of the trap when it becomes covered with pests and dust, and replace with a fresh one.
SKILL SET 
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an effective and environmentally sensitive approach to controlling garden pests that relies on common sense and careful observation. The goal is never complete eradication, but rather managing pest damage by the most economical means with the least possible hazard to people, property, and the environment.
TRAPS, BAITS, LURES, AND HANDPICKING
Traps, baits, and lures are techniques that not only reduce pest populations, but also help us identify the culprit behind the damage; valuable information for future control. And don’t forget handpicking as the lowest-tech, but often quite effective, approach to pest management.
A bowl of beer placed among vulnerable plants in the garden is an organic and time-honored practice employed throughout the PNW to control slugs—the mollusk we all love to hate for the ragged foliage and slimy trails it leaves in its slow but inexorable wake. Iron phosphate–based slug bait offers an effective and organic alternative to dealing with disgusting saucers of beer and dead slugs. Although these organic baits are nontoxic, some cautious pet owners may prefer to use a covered trap. Whichever method you choose, diligent early-season control of this voracious pest goes a long way toward reducing subsequent populations and damage later in the season. Note: it’s best to place traps and bait stations away from cherished plants since they attract pests.
Lure pests to their end with strategically placed boards or a dampened, rolled up newspaper laid on the soil near plants showing damage. In summer months, earwigs, pillbugs, slugs, and snails are more active during the cool of night. Come morning, simply scrape the underside of the board or compost the newspaper to dispense the overnight lodgers.
Monitor new plant growth for aphids and dispatch these suckers with a quick zip up the affected stem with pinched fingers or a well-targeted blast of the hose. Get rid of leaf miners, leaf rollers, webworms, and spit bugs by removing affected plant parts or washing away “spit” with a targeted spray from the hose. These low-tech methods are effective in controlling infestations that can quickly explode if left unchecked. Even a few cutworms can do a tremendous amount of damage, especially when they target young seedlings. At the end of the day—literally, after dark—nothing beats grabbing a flash light, and handpicking cutworms to interrupt their nightly noshing, and dispatching them into a small bucket filled with water and a few drops of liquid soap. Picking is also effective during daylight hours; keep your soap bucket handy and watch out for slugs, snails, caterpillars, and cabbageworms during your daily strolls throughout the garden.
Horticultural fleece (Reemay) is a lightweight, gauzy fabric which lets in light and moisture while providing a physical barrier to keep pests out. Gardeners who continually battle carrot rust fly or cabbage maggots may find this is the only reliable solution to a pest-free crop. Fleece or netting also protects newly sprouted peas, beans, and corn from being picked off by hungry birds—and it may mean the difference between the crows and a blueberry harvest.
Copper tape or banding is a great deterrent for slugs and snails. The tape gives mollusks a nasty electrical shock (something to do with the natural salts present in pure copper) so they won’t cross it. Protect raised beds, encircle edibles in containers, or band shrubs and trees to minimize damage. Just make sure that these damaging pests are on the outside of the barrier.
Garlic- or onion-based sprays repel and confuse insects who find their target plants through a highly developed sense of smell. Don’t worry, the odiferous oils are absorbed by the sprayed plants and spread throughout plant tissues to fight off pests from the inside out, leaving your garden to smell of sweet soil and flowers rather than the neighborhood pizza joint. I wish the same could be said for various concoctions of predator urines developed to deter larger mammals like deer, cats, dogs, and rodents. I recommend only applying these at some distance from pathways, patios, and windows.
INSECTICIDES
Insecticides—the big guns—should only be used when other measures have failed because they can kill the good bugs along with the bad. Just because a product is “organic” does not mean it is nontoxic. In addition to killing on contact, these stronger controls often have a residual effect too, effectively persisting on plants to kill pests when ingested or working to interrupt a pest’s life cycle and prevent maturation.
Insecticidal soap sprays work by desiccating soft-bodied insects, such as aphids, thrips, and white flies. Thus, you need to actually hit the insect for the control to be effective; tricky for flying pests and those that hide in nooks and crannies or on the underside of leaves. Plant-based insecticides such as those containing pyrethrins or neem provide a broader spectrum of control.
Biological controls like Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) and beneficial nematodes work to control caterpillars and grubs but must be applied under strict conditions to be effective. Talk with knowledgeable gardeners and nursery staff, read labels, and educate yourself to avoid disappointing results and expensive waste.