The best defence in natural gardening starts with a good offence, said a Regina biologist and horticulturalist.
Paule Hjertaas, who addressed a food products symposium in Saskatoon Feb. 21, said it’s important to prevent weeds and diseases from developing.
“Grow things that grow well. Don’t grow things that are too fussy,” she said.
Hjertaas avoids plants that attract bugs, but accepts the presence of leaf cutter wasps on rosebushes and a few dandelions in the lawn.
She encouraged gardeners to dead head flowers to prevent them from going to seed, collect dandelion seed heads before mowing to prevent their spread and cover weeds with cardboard or plastic.
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“Rather than pull it, try to kill it,” she said.
Hjertaas began seeking organic solutions in the 1980s after contracting an environmental illness, something she blames on exposure to pesticides and toxins as a biologist.
Symptoms that ranged from fevers and flus to insomnia and paralysis forced her to change her diet and lifestyle.
She moved to a home without carpets, goes to national parks to avoid agricultural spraying season and grows most of what she eats.
In order to keep her home and community lot gardens healthy, she adds cow manure every three years to improve the soil quality and maintains a compost pile. She has planted clover in her grass, applies alfalfa pellets and leaves grass clippings on the lawn.
Corn gluten granules, applied in a fertilizer spreader when dandelions are blooming in the spring, are an effective pre-emergent herbicide that dries out the roots. She said to expect about 50 percent control in the first year and up to 90 percent by the second year.
Hjertaas noted that dandelions are not all bad because they feed birds and are used for medicinal and food purposes.
Loosely applied row covers allow water and sunshine through but keep most pests out. She removes them once for weeding during the growing season.
Prevention ideal
Other tips include paying close attention to timing and distances when plating, using mulches, cover crops, companion crops and the heat of the sun to prevent and control weeds, pests and diseases.
Each year, Hjertass plants several varieties of each vegetable and chooses early maturing ones.
She also suggested planting in the right place, providing appropriate watering and fertilizing and choosing varieties resistant to common pests or diseases.
Dragon Tongue, Histyle and Jade beans and Morning Gold, Kennebec, Alpha and Purple Viking potato varieties fare reasonably well against grasshoppers. Kennebec is resistant to late blight, while Florence beans resist white mould.
