Pests are a big problem for any homeowner looking to keep his or her lawn in tip-top shape. Along with diseases, lawn pests can wreak havoc on your lawn and turn a once lush and beautiful yard into a complete disaster. The natural solution to this, of course, is pest control.

Unfortunately, most pest control solutions aren’t natural. They contain a variety of toxic chemicals that can taint your grass, pollute the environment, and leak into the water table, causing immeasurable amounts of damage and suffering along the way.

Thankfully we have plenty of other methods for controlling and repelling pests in our lawns that aren’t nearly as harmful. They are called organic pest control solutions, and many people around the world have had a lot of success battling lawn pests with them. If you need to combat a pest problem in your lawn but aren’t so keen on using poisonous and harmful chemicals to do it, here are a few organic pest control options you can try.

1. Row Covers

These work best for gardens and can help improve growth as well. Place thin white sheets over your garden to keep insects out, while still letting moisture and sunlight in. Row covers are proven to have a high success rate with pest control.

2. Garlic Spray

One of the more ingenious methods on this list, garlic spray also works best for smaller gardens but can be used on lawns as well. Simply combine water, garlic, and olive oil to a gallon of water and let it sit overnight. Put it in a spray bucket and spray your intended areas during the evening so the sun doesn’t burn your leaves once they have olive oil on them.

3. Pheromone Traps

These organic bug traps use pheromones from insects to lure them to their deaths. Aggregating pheromones and sex pheromones are most common. They usually come in funnel trap, Delta trap, water-pan trap, or bottle trap form. They are rather small and inexpensive despite being highly sensitive. There are pheromone traps for almost every type of lawn pest out there, so it shouldn’t be hard to find one that works for you.

4. Neem Oil

This organic pest control oil is effective in repelling up to 200 different species of lawn pests including caterpillars and beetles. This oil is derived from South Asia and works by interfering with the hormones of insects, making it very hard for them to breed with each other.

It also lowers the amount of feeding they do on your grass and has been marked safe for use by the FDA. It can, however, cause irritation in the eyes or on the skin if exposed for too long. Wear gloves when working with Neem oil.

5. Insecticide Soap

This stuff can be used to kill active pests in your lawn like mites, leafhoppers, plant bugs, lacebugs, and whiteflies. It’s not very effective on unhatched eggs though and works best when sprayed directly on the pests.

Insecticide soaps are mainly made from potassium salts combined with fatty acid mixtures. Because they are sourced from natural ingredients, these soaps are very safe for your lawn and the environment. They quickly and easily disintegrate into the soil after long, but without much residual effect.

Because of this, you’ll need to spray your lawn about once every 5 or 7 days. This will ensure that any new hatchlings get a nice dose of the soap before they get a chance to start feeding on your leaves.

Insecticide soap typically comes in a bar that you have to dissolve into water, or a pre-mixed spray bottle. You should avoid direct contact with this soap as it is harmful despite being organic.

6. Other Critters and Pets

Garter snakes, nematodes, ducks, and other animals/insects can be some of the very best natural defenders of your lawn. These creatures do not have a taste for your grass or your plants, and instead, feed on the creatures that do! Ducks, garter snakes, and chickens love to feast on slugs in particular. Nematodes, on the other hand, are excellent are killing off root maggots, cutworms, and Japanese beetle Larvae.

If you find some nematodes next time you’re shopping for organic pest control, remember to store them in your freezer. Wait until the temperature is moderately cool, then mix them with warm water and dump them in your yard.

There’s No Need for Poison

While poisonous chemical pest control solutions might be extremely quick and effective, they can do a lot of damage. You could end up with a yard covered in poison that your pets and children pick up when they run around it, or you might just poison your own water table. Either way, there’s no reason to use harmful pesticides when they organic pest control solutions in this article are guaranteed to handle the problem for you.

Try some of them for yourself. You’ll be delighted to learn that killing pests can be done without using harmful poison or polluting the environment.