Diversify your vegetable garden to fight pests
Diversity and ... diversity So focus on diversity in species and varieties, both for vegetables and ornamental plants, without neglecting, of course, the inexhaustible "battery" of aromatics. No need for clever calculations to seek acrobatic associations. Indeed, by respecting the specific needs of each, the natural balance will be achieved almost in spite of the gardener, to the great delight of the wildlife that will soon come to grace such a welcoming site with its presence. Moreover, wild or domestic plants are not only beautiful or shelters, each has specific properties that can be beneficial to rediscover. However, there is no miracle solution and the following preparations are only aids provided to crops, intended either to strengthen them or to "participate" in their fight against an aggressor. These "recipes" are avenues which, contrary to popular belief, are in no way grandmother's recipes, but rather recently taken paths that should be explored further and continued to be experimented with. They are therefore often still to be taken conditionally, which in no way prevents, quite the contrary, them from always being put into practice in a more preventive than curative manner. And integrated biological control? It seems absurd to bring insects known to be predators of others into one's garden. The idea of hiring mercenaries, with the risk this may entail for the existing fauna, is unpleasant. We must not forget that an army on campaign, once the battle is over, continues to feed itself, but this time to the detriment of the native population. This increasingly frequent practice should rather be an opportunity for any conscientious gardener to question the reasons explaining the absence of beneficial insects in their garden. Therefore, it is much more judicious to prefer the fight by preservation: installation of nest boxes, flower strips, perennial plants, deciduous and evergreen shrubs, piles of wood, stones, dead branches, etc. In short, everything that makes the garden a place full of life!
