Pesticide-Free and Thriving: Keep Your Garden Healthy the Natural Way

No Pesticides, No Problem: A Healthier Way to Garden

Our green spaces, however small they may seem to us individually, occupy a great area collectively. Eliminating the use of pesticides in our veggie patches and gardens can have huge benefits for our environment and health, benefits which extend far beyond our own fence-lines.

Pesticides is an umbrella term that includes herbicides, insecticides, rodenticides and fungicides. Hazardous pesticides, many of which are banned overseas, are widely sold and easily purchased in Australia, despite demonstrated and growing evidence around the harm they cause to humans, wildlife and our environment. Hundreds of pesticides, including pollinator-killing neonicotinoids, that have been banned in the EU and UK due to the known harm they cause, remain widely available here in Australia. For more on why this is the case, see here. This puts the onus on us, as consumers, to do our research and make choices in order to protect ourselves, our families and pets, as well as the wildlife we share our spaces with and the environment that hosts us.

Impact on human and pet health

Pesticide exposure is linked with multiple serious, long-term health issues, including different types of cancers in adults and children, Parkinson’s Disease, birth defects, fertility decline, endocrine disruption, autoimmune diseases, Autism Spectrum Disorder, allergies, gut health conditions and more. Children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of pesticide exposure due to the quantities they are exposed to in relation to their body weight and the fact that their organ systems are still developing and less able to detoxify harmful chemicals. You can find plenty of information about the impact of pesticides on health on the Pesticide Action Australia website.

Pets are also at risk of immediate poisoning and longer-term illnesses (such as cancer) as a result of exposure to pesticides. Their smaller bodies and behaviour patterns make them more susceptible to the risks of pesticide exposure. More information on pets and pesticides, and the supporting research can be found on the Beyond Pesticides website.

Impact on us (through food)

Our exposure to pesticides does not occur through direct contact with pesticide products alone, but also through the food we eat. If you use pesticides in your garden, the food you grow and eat will contain residues of pesticides, which are demonstrated to be harmful to your health. Regarding the food we buy, the Dirty Dozen refers to a list of fruit and vegetables that contain the highest residues of multiple pesticides. While these pesticide residue tests are undertaken regularly in the USA, they are not often conducted in Australia. Friends of the Earth published an Australian report outlining the pesticide contamination on our foods, and found similar results to the international findings.

As an example, blueberries should be a healthy source of antioxidants and vitamin C, but industrially-farmed blueberries are, sadly, one of the Dirty Dozen. In Australia, blueberries farmed in the Nambucca Valley region in NSW (and for sale at chain supermarkets throughout the country) have been found to contain large residue concentrations of the neurotoxic pesticide, chlorpyrifos. Local residents have formed the Nambucca Environment Network and are campaigning against pesticide pollution which is affecting their environment, in particular local waterways, and their health. See here to learn more and support them! The good news is that growing and eating organic fruit and vegetables, even for a short period of time, can have fast health benefits. Growing your own organic produce is a wonderful way to boost health and minimize your exposure to pesticides through food.

Impact on our environment

The impact of pesticides on our environment is extensive. Australia’s soil and waters, our invaluable natural assets, are being severely contaminated and degraded by pesticide pollution. Not only is damage to soil by pesticides unsustainable but pesticides can pollute soil for far longer than once thought. Pesticides are also a key contributor to biodiversity decline. According to the Biodiversity Council of Australia, between 1-3 species of insects and other beneficial native invertebrates like worms, snails and spiders, are becoming extinct in Australia every week. Going pesticide-free positively impacts bee, colony and wild pollinator health by increasing the availability and diversity of flora and retaining vegetation that helps support insect life. For more detailed information on encouraging pollinators to your green spaces see these guides from Wheen Bee Foundation. For more information around the impact of pesticides on our environment, see the Pesticide Action Australia website.

Actions at home having impact beyond the fence-line

At Pesticide Action Australia we hear time and again how the actions of a neighbour or local council spraying pesticides nearby has killed someone’s bees or trees, or contaminated their soil, water or air quality. We hear from parents who have to keep their kids and pets indoors after their neighbours have sprayed toxic pesticides next to their home. We are all in this together, and all of our actions count.

So, for any or all of these reasons, if you haven’t already - start the pesticide-free journey today! Below are some tips for getting started.

If you are already spray-free and nature friendly, share your tips with your friends and networks and get involved with us at Pesticide Action Australia to find out how you can further support others in your community to go pesticide-free.

Tips for going pesticide-free:

Boost soil health naturally

The key to reducing pests naturally is maintaining a healthy, active, nutrient-rich soil that is better equipped to resist pests and diseases. Boost your soil health with the right compost and mulch!

Organic and natural mulch can bring so many benefits to your patch. A great mulch option that can host weed seed-eating insects is native leaf litter, which you can get from growing and pruning native trees at home and, depending on your location, possibly also from your local council depot. Other options, such as sugar cane mulch, can be great for boosting soil health and nutrients, keeping weeds at bay, retaining soil moisture and encouraging worms.

Compost reduces your garden and kitchen waste and is the best organic fertiliser you can get. See Sustainable Gardening Australia’s resource on the science behind composting and how to get that carbon/nitrogen ratio right!

Design and nurture a pest-free green space

Rotating crops in your veggie patch can be an effective means of disease and pest control that also increases soil fertility. Crop rotation helps to prevent diseases from building up in the soil, so there are benefits of varying where you plant your produce year after year.

Some tips for veggie patch design and crop rotation include:

Dividing your veggie patch into four or more small, separate beds (e.g. beans and peas, leafy greens, fruiting vegetables, roots and stems) and planting in rows to make weeding and watering (the plants you want not the weeds you don’t) easier – you can use string-lines so rows of vegetables are straight for economic use of small areas.

Close plant spacing can also serve to choke out emerging weeds by shading the soil between plants. You can prevent weed-friendly gaps by designing with mass plantings or in drifts of closely spaced plants.

Companion planting can generate greater competition for soil space, which can be helpful in situations where one of the species is a relatively poor competitor on its own. Companion planting can also boost the biodiversity of your patch. For a list of good and bad neighbours, check out Sustainable Gardening Australia’s comprehensive resource.

Growing flowers alongside vegetables attracts beneficial wildlife, such as caterpillar-eating birds and aphid-eating insects, such as ladybirds, lace wings, hoverflies and their larvae. Using toxic chemicals kills not only the pest, but creates health hazards for the beneficial wildlife that play a part in controlling the pests in your garden. If time is of the essence and you want to bring in immediate natural pest control, you can buy the eggs of pest-control bugs and place them directly on your plants – for a list of suppliers see Eco Organic Garden or Bugs for Bugs.

Choosing organic (pesticide-free) seeds, plants and varieties that are suited to your site and soil will also give them a better chance of being strong enough to fight off pests and diseases.

Could the grass on the other side be greener too?

Once you’re seeing and reaping the rewards of going pesticide-free in your own patch, join us and so many communities around Australia who are campaigning for local councils to go pesticide-free too. Harmful pesticides are widely used in public and urban spaces, including on the grounds of parks, schools, hospitals, nursing homes and medical clinics as well as areas of environmental significance such as protected wetlands, foreshores, beaches and natural reserves. The UN Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights visited Australia in 2023 and expressed his serious concern over Australia’s use of pesticides in public spaces.

Taking action individually at home for a cleaner environment and better health is the first step, taking action together for each other in our shared spaces is the next. Get involved with Pesticide Action Australia to find out more – there is so much we can do collectively to make a difference.

Happy gardening!

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Pesticide Action Australia is a newly-established, not-for-profit charity dedicated to protecting Australia’s environment and health from the harm caused by hazardous pesticides.

Sign up to their mailing list if you are interested in learning more and getting involved.

You can also find them on Facebook, LinkedIn and Bluesky!