Insects can cause significant damage to your landscape. This damage can
result in costs to treat the damage or replace damaged plants. Managing
insect pests is a very important part of landscape maintenance, and requires
that you take an active role in protecting your plants and caring for them.
Be sure to know what you are dealing with beforehand, and ensure that you
are adequately prepared to combat insect pests, whether you use natural
methods or synthetic methods.
The first thing that you need to recognize is that not all insects are
pests. Some of them (like bees) actually provide helpful services and
are part of a thriving ecosystem in your yard. Additionally, different
insect pests cause different problems, and they should be treated differently.
It is possible to treat most insects with pesticides, but it is important
to note that when one uses these chemical solutions, they rarely distinguish
between helpful insects and pests, and may kill insects that do no harm.
If you can identify the pest that is causing a specific problem, then
you can more effectively treat it using targeted methods of eradication.
For the best possible health to your landscape, prevention is the best
way to avoid insect pests. There are many non-chemical management techniques
that can be used to help prevent unwanted insects from even causing a
problem. The best treatment is to keep plants in general good health.
Healthy plants are more resistant to the vagaries of insect pests, and
they will stand up to harsh measures if they have to be taken. Below
are some general guidelines to help you have the healthiest possible
plants and to help your landscape increase its defense against insects:
Choose your plants carefully. Make sure that they match the site in
terms of soil type, drainage and sunlight received. Also select plants
that are compatible with the climate in your region.
Plant varieties that are resistant to common pests. For instance, paper
birch is especially susceptible to bronze birch borers, and may fall
victim to these pests. Choose plants that are hardy and not often affected
by the run of the mill insect.
Promote diversity by selecting plants that are resilient to different
pests. Also, planting a variety of vegetation in your landscape can lead
ensure that even if one particular plant is ravaged, that your entire
landscape will not suffer. Diversity protects.
Promote the general health of your plants through proper care. Make
sure that you follow a schedule of watering, pruning, mulching, and fertilizing.
This will help the plants remain in good health.
Encourage natural enemies in the insect world. Insects eat other insects,
and if you promote competition in that way, the populations will remain
lower, and there will be less focus on your plants. A wide variety of
flowering plants that bloom at different times throughout the growing
season are especially good at encouraging natural enemies.
Monitor your plants regularly to ensure that an infestation does not
have time to strengthen and take root. This way you can take care of
the problem immediately. Some non-chemical methods that work very well
in controlling insects are things like hard water sprays to keep aphid
populations in check and cardboard or metal rolls that protect against
cutworms. If the damage is not severe, it is possible to take no action
against them, but this does carry with it a risk: it could become severe
if not properly treated.
If you feel that using an insecticide is the only way to eliminate a
pest problem that you have, be sure to use such chemicals with care.
Determine whether the use of the pesticide will actually prevent significant
damage from occurring. Try to treat the plants before the damage has
occurred, so that the plant recovers better. If the insects have moved
on, there is no reason to treat the plant, especially if damage has already
occurred. The chemicals will affect the plant as well as the pests. Make
sure you carefully read the label prior to buying your insecticide, and
be sure to read the instructions before using. Also be concerned about
how much you use. Too much insecticide can cause damage to your health,
as well as to the health of your plants.
