Gardeners face many of the same challenges as farmers, just on a smaller scale. They have to contend with whatever Mother Nature throws at them, from drought to flood, scathing heat or frigid cold, but to top it off, there are insects, diseases and animals, writes Janet B. Carson in HomeStyle.
Now that the garden season is at its peak, problems are also rising.
Insects are the most diverse group of organisms on earth. There are more than a million described species, and there is not one place that doesn’t have some type of resident insect. Not all these insects are bad. Where would we be without the pollinators that provide us with crops, or the butterflies that beautify the environment? Ladybugs, in their adult and larval stages, eat aphids, and the praying mantis eats good and bad bugs.
See tomorrow’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for Carson’s listing of the bad guys and mugshots that will help you identify them in your veggie plot.