Ron Rossini is a master gardener and realtor. In addition to presenting seminars at the Lee Valley store in London, Ontario, he has written for various gardening publications and appeared as a gardening expert on his local television station. In the latest Gardening Newsletter (v.6, no.3, June 2011) circulated by Lee Valley, he provides a list and description of both good bugs that you really do want to have visit your garden and the bad bugs that you need to control.
Of course, the best deterrent for the bad bugs is to not create the conditions that attract them in the first place. However, sometimes you get bad bugs (e.g., slugs) as a consequence of trying to garden more efficiently and responsibly (e.g., square foot gardening). While Rossini references the possibility of a chemical solution, he makes the point that chemical solutions come with their own consequences. The best response, in Rossini's opinion, is using natural remedies including among other things keeping the garden clean and tidy, planting to attract beneficial insects, creating the conditions to attract insect eating birds to your garden, companion planting to deter bad bugs, using non-toxic home-remedies, and plucking the pests as you find them.
Source: Rossini, R. (2011 June) Lee Valley Gardening Newsletter, 6 (3). Retrieved from http://www.leevalley.com/en/newsletters/Gardening/6/3/article2-6.htm on 2011 June 22.
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