Gardening Expert Shares Pest-Busting Tips

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Gardening Expert Shares Pest-Busting Tips

Chelsea award-winner Adam Woolcott offers natural solutions for common summer pests, especially invasive aphids. Recommendations include water sprays, encouraging predatory insects, and using a low-cost Ecover detergent from Dunelm to tackle caterpillars. He also highlights seasonal tasks like taking hydrangea cuttings, weeding, and promoting sedum blooms

Sultan Sikander

June 14, 2025

4Min Reads

Gardening Expert Shares Pest-Busting Tips

Home and Garden

🌞 Summer 2025: A Season of Blossoms... and Battles

The summer sun is shining, flowers are blooming, and home gardens are alive with color and fragrance. But beneath the petals and greenery lies a quiet invasion. Aphids are gathering in clusters, caterpillars are chewing through prized leaves, and whiteflies hover like silent ghosts. The 2025 garden season, while bountiful, brings a heightened threat of pests—more aggressive, more abundant, and more determined than ever.

But fear not. The remedy doesn't come from harsh chemicals or expensive treatments. It comes from simple, natural solutions, many already hiding in your kitchen. Today’s stylish gardener is both eco-conscious and effective—here’s how to protect your garden with grace.

🚨 The Pest Problem: 2025’s Unwanted Garden Guests

This summer, gardening forums and pest control hotlines have been flooded with complaints. The usual suspects are out in force:

Aphids: Soft-bodied sap suckers, found on tender stems and buds.

Caterpillars: Leaf-chomping larvae that leave gaping holes in foliage.

Spider Mites: Tiny, web-spinning pests that turn leaves brittle and dull.

Whiteflies: Featherlight insects that swarm and drain energy from plants.

Japanese Beetles: Metallic pests that skeletonize leaves in hours.

The spike is blamed on unseasonably warm springs, high humidity, and imbalanced ecosystems. While chemical sprays promise instant fixes, they also kill helpful insects and pollute soil. The trend for 2025? Fight pests the natural way—stylishly and smartly.

🌱 Garden Couture: The Most Fashionable Remedies Are Natural

This year, green is more than a color—it’s a movement. Here are the most chic and sustainable pest-control trends that top gardeners swear by:

1. The Aphid Shower: Power Spraying in Style

Sometimes, the simplest solution is the most elegant. A strong blast from your garden hose can knock aphids off plants without harming them. Think of it as a gentle garden spa with a strategic twist.

2. Soap & Serenity: DIY Insecticidal Spray

A stylish glass bottle filled with your own homemade insecticidal soap adds both function and flair to your potting bench.

Recipe:

1 liter water

1 tsp mild, biodegradable soap (fragrance-free)

Optional: 2 drops peppermint or eucalyptus essential oil

Mist lightly on affected plants in the cool morning air. This blend suffocates soft-bodied pests like whiteflies and aphids, while keeping your garden chemical-free and pet-safe.

3. Floral Friends: Invite the Good Bugs

Bees and butterflies aren’t your only allies. Ladybugs, hoverflies, and lacewings adore wildflowers and herbal borders.

Top plants to invite them:

Dill

Fennel

Yarrow

Marigold

Cosmos

Let your garden bloom wild on purpose—it’s part of the new chaos gardening trend that’s taking over social media.

4. Glam Garlic & Chili Spray

Who said defense can’t be daring? A pungent, fiery blend of garlic and red chili makes for an ultra-effective pest repellent with a designer touch.

Mix:

2 garlic cloves

1 red chili

2 cups water

Blend, strain, dilute, spray

It's nature’s perfume with a punch—chic, rustic, and fiercely protective.

5. The Ecover Trick: Affordable Luxury

Many gardeners have embraced a high-low mix: budget Ecover detergent (around £2.25) paired with luxe garden sprayers. Diluted and sprayed weekly, it clears caterpillars with surprising grace.

🧤 Garden Maintenance: The Ritual of Summer

Pest control isn't just about sprays—it’s about rhythm and routine. The most successful gardens of 2025 follow a curated maintenance plan that blends utility with style.

✔ Weed Like a Minimalist

Weeds are messy both visually and biologically. A tidy, clean bed prevents pests from hiding and competing for nutrients. Use a hand-forged hoe or a minimalist steel weeder to stay on-trend.

✂ Prune Like a Sculptor

Summer is your canvas. Snip away dead growth, shape bushes into elegant silhouettes, and remove fading blooms to encourage new ones. Deadheading is the floral version of a haircut—essential and invigorating.

🌾 Mulch Like a Designer

Not all mulch is created equal. This season, wood chips in neutral tones, straw arrangements, and even cocoa shells are making waves in garden design. They retain moisture, suppress weeds, and add visual texture.

🥕 Rotate with Purpose

If you grow edibles, switch locations annually. Tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers should rotate beds to break pest cycles. Label beds with stylish, handcrafted markers to add flair.

🔍 Inspect Like a Detective

Carry a small magnifying glass and check under leaves every few days. Spotting pests early is like catching a stain before it sets.

💸 Budget Garden Chic: Gorgeous & Affordable

You don’t need a five-figure budget to have a five-star garden. The trend of “budget glam” gardening is in full bloom. Here are a few stunning ideas that cost less than a coffee:

Glass spray bottles with copper trim — under $10

Neem oil vials — natural and effective for $8

DIY sticky traps — colorful and useful for flying pests

Ceramic mulch tiles — reuse broken pottery creatively

Hanging herb baskets — double as décor and pest deterrents

Remember: style and substance can go hand in hand.

🌸 The Takeaway: Beauty, Balance, and Biodiversity

2025’s home gardens are more than just outdoor décor—they’re sanctuaries, eco-systems, and personal statements. As pests challenge even the most seasoned green thumbs, nature offers an answer: balance.

Use water, soap, herbs, and harmony. Follow a care schedule that matches your lifestyle. And most of all, enjoy the process. Because a garden is not just a place. It’s a lifestyle—living, breathing, evolving.

Whether you’re sipping iced tea among daisies or kneeling in the soil beside lavender bushes, you’re part of something ancient and beautiful. Stay rooted. Stay radiant. Stay resilient.