The Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control is an excellent handbook with describing tactics to use for common fruits, flowering plants, vegetables, and trees. Each listing has information on species-specific disease and pest problems. Tips for each are given freely, trying to arrive at solutions to solve these pestilences without chemicals. I particularly liked those especially useful sections featuring photos of garden insects and diseases. For the casual gardener – and even for experts – this book is enlightening, entertaining and full of useful facts and remedies.

For more user reviews and product support please click here.

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Monterey Sluggo Slug and Snail Bait is an organic regime featured by the fine folks at Monterey Lawn and Garden Products.Having lived in the North West US and enduring countless slug invasions, devouring lettuce and early season crops, I can testify to the exasperation in seeing the seeming never-ending gorging of these super slimy little pests.

It is designed as an alternative to metaldehyde products and contains iron phosphate and Spinosad. It is therefore safe to use around pets and wildlife. This product is labeled for full use in vegetable gardens. Great for use in hosta beds. An OMRI listed organic product – it breaks down into fertilizer! Snail and slug control at its best plus Spinosad for earwig, cutworm and sow bug control. 1lb covers 1,000sq ft.

Spinosad is a new and exciting discovery which we will dwell on in the post following this one. It has an utterly remarkable history and will prove an amazing aid in reducing our dependence on chemical treatments for garden pests.

For more product information and for user reviews, click here.

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Orange Guard Water-Based Pest Control is a citrus-based product, designed by Carmel Valley resident and inventor, Tor McPartland, who was looking for an alternative to conventional insecticides. McPartland had become intrigued by reading in Science News where a person had taken citrus hand cleaner and poured it down a fire ant hill. According to the author of the piece, every ant was killed. It began his study of d-Limonene (orange peel extract) and the result became his marketing of his own product, Orange Guard. Made from that same d-Limonene, and combined with other inert ingredients, Orange Guard is now EPA-registered and available to consumers. This product works naturally on ants, fire ants, roaches, fleas, silverfish, aphids, spider mites, leaf hoppers, scale insects, and other insect pests.

Orange Guard destroys the wax coating of the insects’ respiratory systems. When applied directly, the insect suffocates. The citrus fragrance of d Limonene also acts as a repellent. Orange Guard is a water based insecticide. All ingredients in Orange Guard meet the GRAS (generally recognized as safe) standard set by FDA.

For much more product information and for user reviews, click here.

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Turning Life’s Organic Insecticidal Soap is a biodegradable, safe and exceedingly easy-to-use insecticidal soap which can be used in quantities needed, safely and effectively coating leaves and stems with a sticky, peppermint-scented and added solution. A glycerin-based organic insecticide, miticide and fungicide soap with cinnamon oil controls insects, it also contains pure oils which act to prevent fungal spores from traveling and maturing to disease.

All ingredients comprising this very effective garden pest tool are food or pharmaceutical grade stuff. This product is completely safe for use around pets and children. Made with 100% certified organic oils, it contains no alcohol, potassium salts or fatty acids. Use for: Powdery mildew, horticultural fungus, and garden pests.  Insecticidal solutions are underused as effective pest control. We have long since relied on the chemical solutions we were raised to appreciate. This product is clear of many of the nastier heavy metals and chemical products which can make such nasty effects on our environments and our health. It is – at worst – a great method to at least try.

For more product information, please click right here.

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Slug Bread and Beheaded Thistles : Amazing and Useful Techniques For Non-Toxic Gardening and Housekeeping is the long title and sometimes hilarious but surprisingly relevant and useful book written by Ellen Sandbeck, the authoress of “Green Housekeeping” and “Eating More Dirt”. Irreverent but actually quite practical, much of the stress of her insights revolves around organizing one’s spaces properly to begin with. But following all that are some garden secrets, some vital tips, a few secrets from her elders and the “old fashioned”, as well as suggestions about pest control featuring practical and unusual tools. Yes, some of the suggestions make for more rather than less work – let’s face it, working around pesticides and heavy metals and minerals can be fraught with failure. The ease of point and spray insecticides, the luxury of sticking some poison around the home and garden makes life simpler if, unfortunately, more dangerous for ourselves and our pets and visitors.

Ms. Sandbeck provides some suggestions – a few of which all will find useful – as well as providing a crackerjack and sometime hilarious bit of writing that can entertain as well as enlighten.

For more on Ms. Sandbeck and more on organic pest control, click here.

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Sometimes simple is better. You need to keep animals out of your garden. You fence it.

Problem is, erecting a fence can be a huge project with just as huge a price tag attached to it. So, here’s your solution: a simple DIY kit for constructing an electric fence for a mile or so. Kit contains ten poles and 100 feet of wire, so you can get one or two kits to cover quite a large area.

Output voltage is at a safe 800 volt. That’s enough to deter most animals, although jumpy insistent dogs could find it easy to jump over.

Kit contains 1 UL listed electric fence energizer, (10) 23″ PVC fence poles, (1) 22″ ground rod, 100′ of 74, 50 cotter pins for fastening wire, 1 ground clamp, 2 extra fuses, and easy to follow instructions.

Click to get this kit on Amazon today. There’s a 23% discount on it right now, but I’m not sure how long that is going to last, so hurry up.

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Here on PCH we never advocate killing rodents. They are really no different from our pet hamsters. Pet rats are just the same species as those invading our homes. That does not mean you should welcome them into your homes, but rather then use poison or electric traps, why not try the more humane option first?

The Shake-Away granules are just the non-lethal solution you may be looking for. A safe (even organic!) product that cleverly uses predator scent to keep a variety of rodents away. This stuff is formulated to be effective for repelling mice, moles, rats, shrews, voles, and other rodents. The granules are long-lasting, more effective than liquids and cause no harm to plants or other animals.

This can of 3lb of granules should be enough to form a line up to 1500 feet long – a great way to keep pesky noisy rodents out of your home.

Order it now and keep rodents away, humanely – product details and order form here on Amazon

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In fact, with some birds and rodents, the very sight of this beautifully crafted owl is enough to get them to stay away. Should one of the little critters get bold enough to wander in, this massive great-horned owl will notice them, turn its head towards the intruder and hoot. It’s great for surprising a human guest with as well

It actually looks great as well, so you have yourself a garden decor item, and pest control gadget, all in one. IT works on three AA batteries and is built to work outdoors for years.

The wonders of modern technology!

Click here to check out the product page on Amazon and order your own Owl.

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One bottle of Deer Off contains 32 ounces of liquid, which you then mix with water to create 2 gallons of ready-to-use formula. It contains natural ingredients such as bad eggs solids, garlic and hot pepper, intended to deter mammals from approaching your plants and eating any of them.

This stuff is safe to use on your plants, including on edible fruit and vegetable, and is enough to cover about 400 shrubs. It won’t leave a nasty residue or change the colors of your garden.

Click here to read more about Deer Off and order this product from Amazon, right to your doorstep

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What’s more, unsightly molehills can really ruin the looks of your well groomed lawn. So, how can you get the moles away from your lawn or garden without harming the little blind beasts? Here’s a great solution: the Vibrasonic Mole Chaser:

This device is buried underground, almost invisible, and emits a sound that really bothers rodents, driving them away. It is likely to affect not only moles, but squirrels, shrews, voles and mice as well. It will not bother your precious earthworms though.

It’s easy to insert and very durable and only needs a battery change once every 4 to 6 months. In the right conditions of moist clay soil, it can cover about a third of an acre of your land. If you’re dealing with dry, sandy or peat soil, you may require more than one of these devices for added effectiveness.

Click here to read more about this lawn gadget and to order from Amazon

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