Why Eco-Tips for the Weekend? – because we reckon this is when most people have time to think about or try something new to make their life more eco-friendly :-)

Well, it’s August and we’ve been noticing more wasps and other pests about, so we’ve been looking at eco-friendly ways to get them to BUG OFF!

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First up for friendly extermination are Aphids, otherwise known as Greenfly or Blackfly…They feast on and destroy your lovely plants.

You don’t have to resort to harsh chemicals to get rid of them. Here are some tips:

1 – You can Remove them by Hand, or by squirting a sharp stream of water at them.

2 – Make a Safe concentrated Pesticide by mixing 1 cup of vegetable oil with 1 tablespoon washing-up liquid. Keep it in an airtight container, and when you need to use, mix about 2 teaspoons of it with a cup of warm water in a clean empty spray bottle. Spray the entire plant.

3 – Introduce Ladybirds to your garden! If you know any children, they’ll love hunting them down and giving them a big lunch at the Greenfly Cafe! For next year, you can order ladybirds in time from someone like www.greengardener.co.uk

It’s August and there’s an abundance of fruit about – especially soft fruit like nectarines, plums and if you’re lucky, home-grown tomatoes. If you like to keep your fruit in a fruit bowl to encourage your family to eat more, (if they see it, they’ll eat it!) then you’re probably plagued with fruit flies …

1- Make a Fruit Fly Trap by putting a little red wine into a small container, covering it with clingfilm and piercing some holes. Leave it near your fruit bowl, and they will be attracted to it, climb in and drown. You can also use cider vinegar as a substitute.

2- Combine 150ml milk, 60g sugar, 15g ground pepper and simmer for several minutes. Pour into a shallow dish and watch the fruit flies attack it – and suffocate!

3 – Buy a Venus Flytrap plant in your garden centre, and place near the fruit bowl. The flies will be attracted to it and consumed by the ‘carniverous claws’

While ants don’t do much harm to us – they don’t poison or sting us – we don’t like them around our food. Here are some eco-tips for deterring them in and around your home.

1 – Prevention: Promptly clear away and clean up after meals, seal rubbish bags and keep bins as far as possible from your kitchen. Refrigerate unused food.

2 – Seal up cracks. The least toxic method is to use 100% silicon caulk

3 – Sprinkle some paprika powder, chili powder, borax or dried mint on ant trails, cracks and entryways. Growing mint or tansy is also said to help deter them, as does placing citrus peelings near them.

4 – Make a liquid bait by mixing 1 teaspoon / 5ml boric acid with 75ml of honey. Heat until boric acid dissolves. Mix with equal amounts of water and use regularly near ant trails for about 2 weeks.

The Slimy Scourge of every garden, slugs snack on your plants at night and especially after rainfall.
Here are some waysto get rid of them without resorting to chemicals (if you use the poisonous pellets sometimes birds eat the dying, poisoned slugs, peck at the pellets)

1- Remove them by hand – during the day you may be able to follow their shiny trails to find their hiding spots, but good places to look are under pots, in leafy foliage on walls and ground. You will have to kill them if you collect them – no point just moving them! So, drown them in a jar of soapy water. Or find a friendly duck or frog to feed….

2- Spread a ring of salt, eggshells, human hair or coffee granules around your tender plants

3- Make a Beer Trap by filling a jar or plastic container with beer up to half an inch from the top. Sink it down into the ground, so the slugs can climb down – and drown…!

4 – If you can’t bear the waste of beer try a Yeast mixture of half a teaspoon of dried yeast, 1 Tablespoon of sugar and water instead!

5 – Make your garden a Haven for Frogs who love to eat slugs!

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