Garden Pests: Five Common Ones and How to Combat Them

May 3, 2025, 9:45 am | Read time: 5 minutes

Slugs, voles, aphids, spider mites, and vine weevils — hardly any garden is permanently free from such pests. However, with the right combination of prevention, natural remedies, and patience, much can be accomplished.

Gardens are little paradises — for us, but unfortunately also for many uninvited guests. Whether in vegetable beds, on rose bushes, or fruit trees: Some pests can cause significant damage in the garden in a short time. Those who know the typical culprits and their characteristics can take targeted and environmentally friendly action against them. Often, less is more — and patience is as valuable a helper as beneficial insects or tried-and-true home remedies.

1. Slugs

Damage: 2024 could go down in garden history, as rarely has a slug infestation been so extreme. Empty beds, perforated leaves, and slime trails were found almost everywhere. Many gardeners will still remember this.
Prevention: Watering early in the morning and targeting the root area of plants or using underground irrigation aids like Ollas keeps the soil dry. Slugs don’t like that. Home remedies such as coffee grounds, eggshells, or sawdust make it uncomfortable for slugs. Additionally, slug collars, slug fences, copper bands, or special protective coatings for bed borders or plant containers can help. Plants can also be used to manage slugs somewhat. For example, marigolds taste so good to slugs that they often ignore other nearby plants.
Control: The most effective method is collecting slugs with slug tongs or gloves at dusk or after a rain shower. Beneficial creatures like hedgehogs, ground beetles, or toads also provide good service. Slug pellets should be avoided. If you feel you can’t do without them, choose variants containing the active ingredient iron-III-phosphate, as it is considered less problematic.

2. Aphids

Damage: With their piercing-sucking mouthparts, aphids tap into the plant sap. The leaves become deformed or curl up. Additionally, the aphids secrete sticky honeydew, which not only attracts ants but also serves as a breeding ground for sooty mold. This mold appears black on the leaf surface and disrupts photosynthesis.
Prevention: Strong plants are less likely to get sick. Balanced fertilization without too much nitrogen and a consistent water supply make garden plants more resistant to pests.
Control: For light infestations, it is often enough to spray the aphids with water or gently wipe them off. Spraying with soap or a water-rapeseed oil mix can also be helpful. If you prefer not to act yourself, make your garden attractive to birds like tits, sparrows, robins, or wrens, as aphids are high on their menu. Other natural enemies, such as ladybugs, lacewing larvae, or parasitic wasps, also target aphids. They can be purchased and released, working better in greenhouses than in open fields.

3. Voles

Damage: Voles feed on the roots of vegetables, flowers, and shrubs. Typical signs are suddenly wilting plants that can be easily pulled from the ground.
Prevention: Protective measures can be taken during planting. Large, preferably ungalvanized wire mesh baskets for fruit trees or special planting baskets for flower bulbs prevent root damage. Regular soil loosening or planting specific plants like crown imperials, sweet clover, elderberry, or garlic can also be part of prevention.
Control: Repellents like butyric acid, hair, elderberry slurry, garlic, or carbide can help, but are not always reliable. Besides the neighbor’s cat, attracting natural predators like birds of prey, weasels, or house cats can be effective. Also helpful: vole traps. Whether live traps are truly more humane is questionable, as trapped mice often die painfully in these traps if the gardener doesn’t have the time or inclination to check them frequently.

4. Spider Mites

Damage: Spider mites are tiny but extremely harmful. They appear mainly indoors and in greenhouses, but can also be found in gardens. When active, they leave speckled, dull leaves that wilt and fall off. Often visible: fine webs at shoot tips or on the undersides of leaves.
Prevention: The pests love dry, warm air. In greenhouses, regular ventilation and increased humidity help. In open fields, occasional spraying and targeted plant strengthening can prevent infestation.
Control: For light infestations, a strong spray of water often helps. Additionally, rapeseed oil or tea tree oil-water mixtures can suffocate the pests. If you prefer purchased products, several options are available that are also approved for organic farming.

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5. Vine Weevils

Damage: Adult beetles eat notched holes in leaves, especially on rhododendrons, roses, hydrangeas, cherry laurels, or clematis. However, their larvae are much more dangerous. They live in the soil and feed on roots, which can lead to wilting leaves and the death of the plant.
Prevention: Besides strengthening plants, there are few preventive measures against vine weevils.
Control: Special nematodes are a helpful tool in the fight against vine weevils — they infect the larvae and kill them. Another option is using neem press cake, which inhibits the larvae’s appetite. However, neem press cake and nematodes should not be used simultaneously, as the active ingredient also kills the nematodes. Also useful in the fight against vine weevils: moles, hedgehogs, and lizards, as well as chickens.

This article is a machine translation of the original German version of MYHOMEBOOK and has been reviewed for accuracy and quality by a native speaker. For feedback, please contact us at info@myhomebook.de.