There are many birds, animals and insects that delight the gardener both with their beauty and with the help they give us in the garden. But there are also many that are harmful and can ruin a beautiful garden. Life would be a lot simpler if we could wave a magic wand and get rid of those we don't want, but it's not that simple. To begin, we need to identify them. One of the best methods for controlling pests is good garden hygiene. Keeping your garden free of trash will reduce hotspots where pests can breed and take hold. It is a very simple remedy, but one of the most effective, especially against slugs. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayThere are some creatures that really help in the fight against parasites, the common earthworm is a powerful ally in its constant wanderings to through the soil which keeps it open to air and water. Many of our common garden birds feed on garden pests. Many insects feed on their harmful relatives. Toads and frogs can destroy large numbers of insects in a single meal and are a joy to have in the garden. Making your garden attractive to birds and toads is one of the best methods of pest control. A good feeder or nest box, food distributed in spring and a little water are invitations for birds to stay in your garden. If you want toads and frogs, make sure there is moist shade. A few reasonably sized stones in the shade of a shrub with perhaps a few damp leaves would make a luxury residence for a toad. At night, they venture out to catch their food - which they prefer to live. Slugs are a particular bane in my life - they come out and munch on all your tender plants if you give them half a chance. Again, the birds will help you and you can use safe slug pellets that do not harm the birds or hedgehogs. There are all kinds of mulch and even slug fences you can get, the worst damage is often caused by the ones you can't see that are hiding under the ground. If you want to use biological control, you can obtain nematodes from specialist suppliers which inhabit the soil and feed on the slugs. It's a longer process than using some chemicals, but much kinder to your garden. The heavy-jawed munching insects are particularly destructive and can tear up a vegetable patch in no time - I lost countless amounts of cabbages and shoots last year. to the caterpillars. This year I'm working hard to encourage the birds to counteract this. You can use sprays, but make sure they are suitable for birds and fish if you have a pond. This type of insect is killed by taking the spray into its body as it nibbles on your plants. Vegetables are particularly susceptible to pests – they love eating them as much as we do, and many of our crops have their own pests that only feed on a single plant. Tomato worms, for example, burrow into young fruits and eat them from the inside. You can often harvest a particularly succulent crop of potatoes only to find the tubers inhabited by yellow- and black-striped potato bugs. What I particularly hate is the little green caterpillar that ravages cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower. Of the..