I’m growing tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers for my first time not on a balcony, and I’m a tad concerned about caterpillars, squirrels, and other wildlife finding their way to my crops; that said, I would like to keep my space as earth friendly as possible, so chemical pesticides are out. I’ve read blog articles about trimming the lowest branches to prevent disease and planting trap crops such as nasturtiums and marigolds to lure pests away from the tomatoes. Do these techniques actually work? How do other gardeners handle this situation?
I’ve been known to hatch praying mantis ootheca to have an army of predators to manage pest insects. Worked well for the most part, and preying mantids are very chill and neat
But I haven’t gardened in a while so I’m not sure what I’ll need this year when I’ve rebuilt everything. Fortunately my chicken fence seems to finally have deterred deer (I live in town on a very small lot, but at separate times I’ve had a 12 point buck and several does just hang out in my yard all day) which was a major concern previously. I might put a fence around the raised beds to keep rabbits and such out, but only if I have to.
I’m planning to replace a lot of bushes and things that are growing on my property now, to make my landscape largely edible, with the full understanding that wildlife will probably get to much of it before I do. I’m adding stuff like serviceberry just for them, they can have the grapes and apples I can’t reach, too.