Before you anticipate the horticultural version of Murphy’s Law kicking in, remind yourself that herbs are among the garden plants least bothered by diseases and pests. With help from you, they’ll grow vigorously, untroubled by plagues or pestilence.

Several ounces of prevention is the best and safest defense against pests and diseases — for you, your surroundings, and its wild inhabitants. The American landscape is already up to its knees in toxins — chemicals blended to combat weeds, diseases, and pests large and small. Don’t add to the problem by bombing bugs and drenching diseases with more poisons. Take on some small battles for control with these and other foes, but don’t engage in any all-out wars. Total extermination isn’t your goal. In fact, killing everything except the herbs you want to grow makes it unlikely that you’ll be able to grow healthy herbs — or anything else!

Many Americans have adopted the integrated pest management (IPM) approach to garden and landscape management. Click here for details on IPM. Also keep in mind that every caterpillar is a butterfly-in-waiting. Parsleyworms become swallowtail butterflies, so you should move rather than destroy them.

Good Fellows

Biological controls are living organisms; using biological controls is based on the theory that every pest has a mortal enemy. It’s a relatively new field of long-term pest control. The controls themselves, however, have been around forever — and many of them are already sharing your zip code. Following is a short list of beneficials that you want to keep around your herb garden. (Click here for more beneficial insects)

• Aphid midges: The midge larvae — tiny orange maggots — commit “aphidcide.”
• Dragonflies: You need water to attract these flyers, one of the garden’s most beautiful do-gooders.
• True bugs: Believe it or not, “true bugs” is the scientific name for a group of insects, which includes predatory members that attack aphids, beetle larvae, caterpillars, and thrips.
• Yellow jackets: If yellow jackets nest far enough away not to sting you, leave them alone to gather caterpillars, flies, and assorted larvae for their offspring.

In addition to these small pest-control champs, some larger animals are worth having on garden patrol. We don’t suggest that you import these helpers — they may be inappropriate for your location or sensibilities — but don’t discount the good they can do:

• Bats: Forget all the scare stories about rabies — scientists say that the danger is remote — and remember that bats are champion insect-eaters.
• Birds: You can forgive birds a few transgressions, such as eating the cherries and blueberries, when you remember how many bugs they eat. One estimate is that aphid eggs make up half a chickadee’s winter diet!
• Skunks: Although skunks are debatable as garden ornaments, they do love grubs. Moles are also great grub grubbers if you can put up with the lawn damage they cause.
• Snakes: We’re sympathetic if you draw the line at encouraging snakes to dwell in your herb garden, but they’re after rodents and insects, not you.
• Toads: Toads eat an almost exclusive diet of grubs, slugs, beetles, and other harmful insects. Encourage toads by chipping a doorway on the side of a terra-cotta pot and leaving it, turned upside down, in a shady spot in your garden.

We discuss the bad guys likely to plague your herbs if you click here In the meantime, here are some tips for keeping the bad guys at bay in your herb garden:

• Hot pepper spray: Many repellents use hot peppers to discourage pests.  ....read more