In past gardening seasons, the biggest problem we’ve had with bugs has been earwigs munching on a few plants here and there. Surprisingly, earwigs, are one of the easier bugs to manage. This year, due to extended cool weather and damp conditions, the bug pressure has been significantly higher. Here are some strategies to keep bugs at bay in the garden.
Earwigs – An easy way to keep them at bay

Like I said, this is the easy one. Earwigs, for some reason, are strongly attracted to olive oil. All you have to do to get rid of mass amounts of these creepy critters is set out a few dishes of olive oil. They all crawl in by the dozen. And there you go, your earwig problem is solved, at least for a while.
Waging war on the slugs

Slugs are a bit trickier. I absolutely detest slugs. Who doesn’t? They are one of the most disgusting, slimy, icky bugs that a gardener has to deal with. Slugs like cool damp conditions. So the first step, is to reduce the amount of water you’re putting on your plants. Most likely, if you’re watering enough to make the slugs happy, you’re probably watering more heavily than your plants need. The top of the soil should dry out in between watering. This is the first defense for keeping these slimy disgusting critters at bay.
But, what if your slug problem is already out of control (that’s the boat I’m in right now)? Well, you’ve probably heard of using beer to trap slugs. This method is fairly fail-proof and convenient especially if you happen to live across from a convenience store that sells primarily alcohol. But what if you’d rather not go through the embarrassment of buying bottom-shelf beer that you have no intention of drinking anyway? Well, slugs don’t like beer just because of the Budweiser horse ads. They like beer because they like the yeast in the alcohol. Therefore, you don’t even need beer to attract them.
Slug Trap Bait Recipe

All you need is an active yeast solution that they will drown in. Mix 1 tsp flour, 1 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp yeast, and 1 cup of water. Craft a trap using recycled plastic containers and bury it up to the edge of your trap entrance. Add your bait solution, and voila slug trap.
And, of course when you do see a live slug sliding across your patio at night, be sure to get out the table salt. This surefire method stops a slug in its tracks. It’s mostly a bandaid solution though. You want to actually trap or discourage slugs in order to protect your plants from getting munched on.
Fungus Gnats – mostly an annoyance
Fungus gnats usually show up on potted plants inside when soil becomes contaminated (either because the soil used for the plant wasn’t sterile potting soil or because you brought a plant in from outside). They are also pretty common in greenhouses where conditions are constantly moist. Strangely enough, though, it’s been moist enough outside that the fungus gnats are happily living on plants outside this year too.
Similar to the slugs, your first line of defense is letting your soil dry out in between watering. Fungus gnats lay their eggs in moist soil. The larvae then munch on the roots of your plants and the adults hang out on your plant’s stems (especially on tomatoes).
When your plants are established, the fungus gnats aren’t a huge threat, but they’re still annoying. Another way to defend against fungus gnats is placing small dishes of cider vinegar near where you’re having problems. Some people say this only works for fruit flys and fungus gnats are different. But I’ve trapped a lot of fungus gnats with this method. So it works for me and I’m sure it will work for you too.
Ants, Roly Polies, and Anything with a hard exoskeleton
Another problem we’ve had this year is ants. The ants seem to have a thing for the sand under our brick patio. They’ve been busily changing the depth of various bricks by moving the sand underneath. Obviously, this is a problem when water starts pooling on certain bricks and running back towards our house. Additionally, it’s no fun to walk through or try to weed among ants that might just decide you taste good.
Thankfully, there is a quick easy way to get rid of ants and other bugs that have hard exoskeletons: Diatomaceous earth. DE as it’s often referred to is crushed sea creatures and though it appears to be a fine powder to the human touch, it’s actually full of microscopic razor edges. If an ant or other critter crawls over or through it, the DE will leave cuts and abrasions in the insect’s exoskeleton causing them to dry out and die.
Another good strategy for ants is sugar water with a dose of borax. The Borax is harmless to people and animals but kills the ants when they take it back and feed it to other ants. It’s especially effective if you can get them to take it back to the queen.
It’s important to note with this strategy, however, that it can also attract and kill good insects like honey bees. Bees and other pollinators would be attracted to the sugar water and would also be killed by the borax. So, if you can’t ensure that only the ants are finding your mixture, it’s better to use something that isn’t going to attract good bugs and that will only combat the ones you want gone.
Other Unknown Munchers – Keep Bugs At Bay
Sometimes it’s hard to identify what kind of bug is munching on your plants. When you have an unknown pest, the best strategy I’ve found is cinnamon (or hot ground pepper like cayenne). This will keep bugs and squirrels at bay for the most part. It’s worked pretty effectively for getting our beans to survive over the past few years. It’s also an effective way to keep squirrels from making off with your sunflowers.

Another strategy I haven’t been able to try but is said to be foolproof in deterring bugs is rhubarb. Boil the leaves for a little while and then strain out the leaves and put the water in a spray bottle. Let it cool and spray it on whatever plant is getting attacked. This method is said to send any bug fleeing. Rhubarb leaves are toxic to humans, so it makes sense that the bugs would run.
Keep Bugs At Bay with Companion Planting
Another good bug prevention strategy is planting flowers or herbs that the bugs don’t like. Some pretty common bug deterrent flowers and herbs are Nasturtiums, Marigolds, Calendula, Sage, Mint, Rhubarb, Petunias, Rosemary, and Thyme. Plant these throughout your garden to fend off the bad bugs and attract the good ones. Some of these plants act more as trap plants and attract the bugs away from your veggies to themselves. Most of them, however, give off some sort of odor that discourages bugs from coming around.

Even more Ideas for keeping bugs at bay
- Grow Plants that attract predator bugs. Here are some common ones:
- Goldenrod
- Mint
- Cosmos
- Daisies
- Marigolds
- Dill
- Clover
- Yarrow
- Wildflowers
- Put up a Bird Feeder to encourage birds to spend time in your yard and they will eat the pests.
- Put up Bat Houses (bats eat the bugs that are bad for your garden and they also feast on mosquitoes
What methods have you found to be successful in deterring bugs in your garden? I’d love to hear what you’ve found to be effective.