In the heart of the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands nestles award-winning Granny Mouse Country House & Spa, the perfect combination of relaxation and luxury. Known for its beautiful gardens and fabulous food, Granny Mouse offers countless inspiration to all those who visit.
“We have some tips on how to make your garden more attractive, not just to you, but to the oh-so-necessary bees, butterflies and birds- as well as unattractive, unwanted pests”, says Sean Granger, General Manager of Granny Mouse.
Instead of reaching for toxic chemical products to control garden pests, go for the sensible option and use natural remedies to keep plants free of bugs:
Garlic: Pop a clove of garlic into a blender, add a cup of water and puree until finely blended. Place in a spray bottle and fill up with water. Shake well and spray onto plants. Garlic acts as a deterrent, encouraging insects to move on to more appetising plants. Unlike many other types of insecticidal garden sprays, garlic can safely be applied to the leaves of plants.
Eggshells: Next time you plant vegetables, crush a couple of eggshells, not too finely, and add them to the bottom of the hole. The sharp edges will deter cutworms, and crushed shells around the stem of plants will deter slugs and snails.
Ash: Snails and slugs also dislike sand, lime, and ashes, so the next time you have a wood braai, apply ash to the base of plants that are under threat.
Diatomaceous earth: The sharp surfaces cut through the insect cuticle and the insect dies of dehydration. Diatomaceous earth kills slugs, snails and ants, and should only be applied to problem areas to avoid killing worms and similar garden-healthy occupants.
Manure: There's nothing like manure for boosting growth and flower production. By adding nutrients to the soil, you increase the strength of the plant, and a healthy plant has a better chance at fighting off disease.
Pure soap (Castile soap): Simply fill up a spray bottle with water and a tablespoon of peppermint castile soap to rid your plants of aphids and whiteflies.
Bananas: Did you know that bananas protect your roses from aphids? Try placing a few dried banana skins just below the surface around your rose bushes. Bananas are also rich in potassium, which is a vital nutrient for gardens. Bananas also attract birds and butterflies, so be sure to hang some out on a bird feeder.
Companion planting for pest control:
Plants with strongly aromatic leaves generally repel insects and can be interplanted with veggies or flowers. Other plants release chemicals from their roots that suppress or repel pests and protect neighbouring plants. For example, Marigolds release thiopene, a nematode repellent.
And then there are plants that provide a beneficial habitat for predators like ladybirds, praying mantis and spiders that help keep pest populations in check. Insect repelling plants for specific
pests:
· Ants – bay, tansy
· Aphids – catmint, marigolds,
· Beetles – rose scented geranium
· Cabbage fly – celery, rose scented geranium,
· Eelworm/nematodes – marigolds
· Fruit fly – khakibos, tansy and marigolds
· Flies – basil, catmint, lemon verbena
· Fleas – catmint, fennel, Khakibos
· Mosquitoes – lemon verbena.
· Snails and cutworms – mustard, oak leaves
Best insect-repelling herbs:
The strongly aromatic foliage of these herbs deters pests or masks the odour of other plants that are sought after by pests.
Tansy is a very effective insect repellent.
Pennyroyal is known for repelling ants and can be planted around wormeries to keep them ant-free.
Feverfew repels any insect that encounters it. The white daisy-like flowers attract butterflies and bees.
Chives keep aphids away from roses, grapes, tomatoes, carrots and fruit trees.
Herbs for making natural insecticides:
Fresh or dried leaves or flowers from these herbs can be used. Steep the herb material in hot water, strain when it has cooled, add a tiny amount of liquid soap for spreading, and spray onto plants affected by pests.
Pyrethrum is a sun-loving perennial with white daisy flowers in summer. Even the dried flowers can be used as an insect repellent.
The passion fruit daisy- with golden-yellow flowers, and foliage with a strong passion fruit fragrance that repels white fly on tomatoes, Mexican bean bug on beans and nematodes in the soil.
Wormwood and southernwood have pungent grey-green leaves that deter insects. A spray made from the leaves is reputed to repel thrips, snails, slugs, spider mites, and mealybug.
Best herbs for diverting pests:
These herbs, often referred to as ‘trap crops’, attract pests to them and away from your veggies.
Nasturtiums and garlic chives attract black aphids in droves. Pull out the infested nasturtiums and throw them away. Cut garlic chive leaves to ground level and dispose of them. The plants will quickly resprout.
Snails love marigolds and are easily picked off the foliage.
Best herbs for beneficial bugs and bees:
Basil, in all its forms, produces spikes of flowers that attract bees.
They particularly like perennial pink basil.
Bergamot bears beautiful pink-red flowers in summer that attract bees.
Grow it in rich soil and water it well.
Lemon balm is also known as bee balm because bees love its small white flowers.
Coriander that is allowed to flower will attract butterflies and bees, while its strong-tasting leaves are loathed by aphids.
Yarrow - The flowers attract parasitic wasps and hover flies, which are beneficial predators.
Fennel acts as a trap crop for beetles and aphids but also attracts ladybirds.
How to Fill Your Garden with Birds, Bees and Butterflies
Birds
The right plants can attract anything from 50 to 100 species of birds to your garden. Birds like eating nectar, berries, fruits and seeds, so planting plenty of these delicacies is the way to go. A bird feeder providing a variety of seeds is a sure-fire way to attract some avian friends too, especially in winter when food is scarcer.
Nectar: aloes, ericas, hibiscus, Cape honeysuckle, proteas, fuchsias, pincushions, red-hot pokers and watsonias.
Fruit, Berries & Seeds: sunflowers, acacia, cassias, wild plum, wild peach, Cape lilac, tamarisk, cherry guava, elderberry, pepper trees, wild olive, cosmos, grasses, marigolds, strawberry tree, tortoise berry, white stinkwood, hawthorn, Kei apple, loquat, wild figs
Some bigger plants or trees in your garden will give birds a safe spot to build their homes. You can provide nesting materials by:
• Leaving twigs that fall from bushes on the ground
• Growing plants with fluffy, soft, silky seeds for lining nests, such as wild rosemary
• A little patch of mud will encourage birds such as swallows and swifts who build their nests from mud
• Leave longish pieces of dried grass in a little accessible spot when you trim longer grass
• A shady area in your garden could provide some soft moss
• Provide an enticement by putting up a birdhouse at a height that is safe from predators, in a spot that isn’t too exposed to the elements.
Birds are great bathers, so a bird bath will definitely go down well, as well as a supply of water.
Bees
It’s important to read the labels and make sure that you are not using nasty pesticides in your garden that are known to contain bee-harming chemicals such as neonicotinoids. They usually contain acetamiprid, clothianidin, imidacloprid, and/or thiamethoxam as active ingredients.
Explore greener, healthier pest control options.
Plants That Bees Love: calendula, primulas, borage, bee balm, vygies, sweet thorn, karee, bush willows, weeping wattle, fuschias, geraniums, rosemary, linaria, blanket flowers, sage, scabiosa species, sunflowers, thyme, cosmos, blombos, September bush, Cape may, white alyssum, lavender, fruit tree blossoms, agapanthus, anisodonteas, butterfly bushes, bottlebrush.
• They are especially attracted to purple, violet, blue, blue-green, yellow, ultraviolet and white flowers and prefer scented flowers.
• Plant flowers that bloom at different times of the year to keep the bees well fed all year-round.
• Leave some wild meadow-like areas, bees like natural wildness. If you have a lawn, let some wild clover grow on it.
• Some bees live in the earth so they’ll appreciate a little mud to go round.
• A bee bath needs to be shallower than a bird bath – a shallow tray-like bath of water is ideal. You can put some marbles in a shallow pan and fill it with water – that way the bees will have somewhere to land and drink.
• Provide shelter with rotting vegetation and tree stumps. You can install bee shelters and hives too.
Butterflies
To encourage butterflies in your garden means you have to allow for the larval stage too. They provide food for frogs, birds, lizards, spiders and praying mantis’ and they really only make temporary, repairable inroads into your foliage. Go lightly on pesticide and only use them when really necessary. Toxic pesticides can also get into the plant nectar that adult butterflies drink.
Good Host Plants for Butterfly Eggs and Larvae
Mackaya bella, mona lavender, trailing daisies, Cape forget-me-not, setaria megaphylla grass, indigenous jasmines, wild mint, wild peach, flowering salvias, gazanias, geraniums, asystasia, the small honeysuckle tree, white Ironwood, horsewood, orange and lemon trees, butter cassia.
Butterflies like colours ranging from blue to mauve, red, pink or white when it comes to flowers. Some butterflies like rotting fruit such as bananas or pineapple. Leave some fruit from your fruit trees to rot on the ground as food. They like to get some minerals in from pockets of mud too, so a little mud puddle or two is appreciated.
Plants Butterflies Love
Cape plumbago, sweet thorn, white iron wood tree, wild peach, Cape honeysuckle, foxglove, pride of De Kaap, rice flower, star flower, verbena, zinnias, butterfly bush, flowering acacia, bottle brush, puzzle bush, lavenders, mint plants, sacred basil, salvia sages, rosemary, hibiscus, impatiens, ribbon flower, lucerne, daisies, impatiens, marigolds, alyssum, gazania, lobelia, vernonias.
• Butterflies are coldblooded and like the odd spot where they can sun themselves
• Butterflies are paper-light in winds and breezes, a calm wind and breeze-free area will give them a chance to rest
• To attract the nocturnal version of the butterfly, the mysterious moth, plant night blooming flowers such as jasmine.
To experience Granny Mouse’s gardens and award-winning excellence, visit www.grannymouse.co.za to explore accommodation options on the Specials page. Then email reservations@grannymouse.co.za
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