Maximising Your Garden’s Yield Through Pest Prevention

Fruit:

• Berries such as strawberries, blackberries, and currants grow plenty of fruits per harvest and should provide fruit in the first year.
• Fruit trees such as apple, plum, cherry, and pear trees are a long-term investment but can provide abundant fruit once they’ve matured. 

Vegetables:

• Leafy greens such as lettuce, spinach, and kale are fast-growing and produce multiple harvests in one season.
• Radishes can grow very quickly and don’t need much space. Plant them between your other crops and harvest after about four weeks.
• Tomatoes, particularly cherry tomatoes, can produce an abundance of crops in one yield. As they grow on vines, they can also use vertical space well. Just be sure to support your vines with plant climbing mesh or tensioning wire as they grow.
• Runner beans are very common in UK gardens for a reason. Like tomatoes, they’re good space-saving climbers, so they can produce a relatively large harvest in a small area. 

Flowers:

• Shrubs such as camelia, lilac, hydrangea, and rose bushes are relatively easy to grow and can provide an abundance of beautifully coloured and scented blooms in the spring and summer.
• Winter bushes like holly can provide greenery in the colder months.
• Herbs are not only tasty but many plants, such as lavender, rosemary, chives, and chamomile, grow pretty flowers that are also edible.

Most common garden pests

While having a diverse range of wildlife in your garden is great to see, some critters can cause havoc to your fruit and vegetable patch. Some of the most troublesome garden pests we have here in the UK include insects, birds, squirrels, foxes, and rabbits, each with its own characteristic patterns of behaviour. Identifying which pests you have in your garden is your first step in figuring out how to prevent them. 

• Insects: Insects such as aphids, caterpillars, beetles, and slugs can be a particular pain for garden crops. Aphids feed on plant sap, causing leaves to curl and distort and causing a much lower crop yield, while caterpillars can devour foliage and fruits. Beetles may skeletonise leaves, leaving behind a lacy pattern, and slugs and snails may cause irregular holes in leaves and fruits.
• Birds: Birds, such as pigeons, sparrows, and blackbirds, are notorious for pecking at ripening fruits and vegetables, such as strawberries, cherries, and tomatoes, leaving behind shallow indentations or holes. They may also target seeds, seedlings, and young shoots, causing damage to emerging crops.
• Squirrels: While squirrels are mostly known to raid bird feeders, they can also damage crops in gardens. They may dig up newly planted bulbs, nibble on fruits and vegetables, and strip bark from trees and shrubs. Squirrels may also leave behind chewed fruits. 
• Rabbits: Rabbits are notorious for nibbling on a wide range of garden plants, including vegetables, herbs, and flowers. They can cause significant damage to crops by eating leaves, stems, and roots. Rabbits typically gnaw crops right to the ground.

Foxes: Foxes mainly work at night and can cause damage to gardens by digging up newly planted areas and creating dens in lawns and flower beds. They can also trample over plants and leave faeces in your garden.