Not only are we bombarded by unrealistic expectations of what our garden should look like, we are inundated with unbelievable messages about the role of wildlife in our gardens. When we see bugs having lunch on our plants we immediately see ourselves as failures. Far too many beginning gardeners have the unrealistic expectation that that there should be no insects in their garden and if they see a leaf that is chewed or heaven forbid - missing altogether, then they are failures as gardeners. The bugs are winning the war. For that is how gardening has been portrayed in the media.
Gardening is a war.
It's a war against insects, weeds and the environment that we can only win by applying chemical products to defeat Mother Nature. The gardening media and chemical industry has told us if we want to win the war on weeds, then we have to use chemicals. Similarly, if we want to have insect-free gardens, we have to spray. It is written in our heads in the diagnosis of gardener extremis-expectitis. I don't suffer from this malady.