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A Gardener's Notebook: The latest incarnation of my column detailing the trails and tribulations of my garden. Join the list and ask your own questions about gardening Subscribe

After any journey, there is a certain joy to be found in returning home. Travel is wonderful in so many ways, but there comes a time when you need to return to a familiar home, language and land. After 3 weeks we were all very happy to do just that.

The untended flock

Part of our travel planning involved hiring a house sitter who would take care of our cats and water the garden while we were away. I don’t hire anyone to work in my garden, so the daily and weekly maintenance would have to wait until I returned. This kept everything alive while we were gone, but the first site to great me when we returned from the airport was a garden full of weeds. It will take a week or so of work to get all the grass out of the flower beds, dig up the dandelions and remove the spurge from the stone paths flanking the driveway.

In addition to the weeds there were a couple of additional problems that I hadn’t expected. Ants had invaded the one hummingbird feeder I had left in the garden. I should have removed it before I left, but it was one of many items that were forgotten in the final rush for the airport.

One hibiscus had been attacked by a large infestation of white fly. It was covered in both flies and a large amount of white, cotton-like webbing. A quick shot from the hose was enough to knock down the population, though, and the plant appears to be nearly fly-free as I write. I saw mention of white fly infestations in the Los Angeles Times on the day we returned so it must be happening throughout our area. One reader wrote in to tell of one method of controlling a particularly heavy infestation. She positioned an oscillating sprinkler so that it hammered the infected plant for about 30 minutes. She reported that the infestation was almost entirely removed, both adults and larvae. This is an extreme response, but one that might come in handy should you face such a heavy infestation in one plant or over a large area of your garden.

Pest Control

Non-toxic, mechanical pest controls may become even more important if the US EPA and other international groups continue to ban pesticides that have been used for years. You may have read this week about the ban on Dursban, a common garden pesticide. I would guess that over the next several years we will see more and more such bans or, at least, stricter controls on pesticide sales and use.

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While I am not a rabid organic-only gardener, I don’t believe in using pesticides except in cases where a plant, or an entire garden, is under great threat. In most cases, the use of mechanical controls, like the water blasting above, or natural controls, like the introduction of predators or BT (bacillus thuringiensis) should be the first choice when pests appear. It is safer for you, your plants and your garden as a whole.

Keep digging! -- Douglas