|
Pest Control Control your Garden Pest with Accurate Information.Gardening Newsletter Garden pest come in all shapes, sizes, and varieties. This includes the smallest of insects to larger animal pest like deer. With such a variety of garden pest, there are also a variety of treatments to rid your garden of these.
A garden pest to one person is a great attraction to another. Consider for example the mess and damage that deer and squirrels can heap on a garden. Then realize that the market for products that feed and attract these very creatures to people’s yards is huge.
This takes us to the point where, when battling garden pest, you will first decide what you are trying to accomplish. You then can decide who the enemy is. Free Newsletter Please sign up and enjoy our Gardening Advisor Newsletter. In this you will read both fun and serious gardening information covering a wide range of topics.
We will gaurd your Email with great care and NEVER send spam or sell your information. Ways to Eliminate “UNWANTED” Garden Pest:
[1] What are you growing?
The reason this is important is that certain pest may invade your garden but do not reach your threshold for damage. It may be just a few nibbles around the edges of a few leaves on your flowers for example. If on the other hand a pest is eating a large number of your flower buds thus destroying your flower production, you take preventive measures.
[2] Identify the Pest.
You will usually see the damage occurring to your flowers and plants before knowing what is causing the mess. Scout your garden at different times of the day (or even at night) to see what’s going on.
Some pest like slugs and snails leave a telltale sign of their presence with a silvery trail remaining. Other pest can give you hints by the kind of flora damage that occurs. The best proof is actually seeing the pest or finding their egg masses or larva to identify.
Note: If you cannot actually see the pest doing damage, you can set traps such as sticky tape or other marketed alternatives. You’ll catch both the culprit and possibly beneficial insects as well.
[3] Learn about the “Unwanted Pest”.
By learning about a particular garden pest habits and lifecycle you can plan the most appropriate strategy to manage or eliminate them. Slugs for example, come out at night and love the aroma (and apparently the taste) of beer. By knowing this you can put out a dish of beer near their attack sites and they will dive in and start drinking until they get intoxicated and drown.
[4] Beneficial Pest - Know the “GOOD” from the “Bad”.
This is important because there are some insects that eat the insects that destroy your garden. They are known as “beneficial insects” and you want them around. A Praying Mantis, for example, loves to eat other insects and is one of the few insects that are fast enough to catch flies and mosquitoes.
Other creatures such as frogs or toads can be very beneficial as well because they consume a large number of insects every day. Note: You can purchase beneficial insects from companies that sell their eggs or larva. This can be a way to jump-start the micro-ecosystem in your garden with bugs that eat bugs.
[5] Grow Hardy more Pest-Resistant Flora:
Some flowers and plants are naturally more resistant to pest than others. Usually flora native to a particular region have overcome the pest and diseases of that area to have survived and thrived. Wildflowers are a great example of this because they do especially well in their native habitat without any outside insecticide or herbicide assistance.
[6] Grow “Trap Plants”:
This is a technique where you plant flora at the edge of your garden that particular pest love to infest (these are plants you don’t care about). Once they are sufficiently infested you can destroy those plants and thereby taking a heap of insect pest with them.
[7] Mechanical Solutions:
Barriers such as fences can be effective with larger pest, and row covers for smaller insect sized pest. Row covers are a good way to get a flower garden started but you’ll reach a point where you want to see your flowers and take the covering off. Fences on the other hand can be an attractive garden décor and left up permanently.
[8] Removal by Hand:
This could be labor intensive but it’s an option. You may have a pest that is present in low numbers or is larger and easy to remove by hand. If so, this can be a natural method of control.
[9] Attracting Beneficial Insects & Creatures:
You can recognize beneficial insects & creatures and leave them in your garden, or introduce purchased versions of these helpful creatures. Another way is to grow flowers and plants that beneficial insects and creatures are attracted to. By doing this you tap into the native creatures that are already around as well as provide a good way to ensure any purchased ones hang around longer. Other ways to attract beneficial insects & creatures:
* Sources of food beyond your garden flowers such as soybeans and alfalfa.
* Shelter where insects can hide.
* Water sources such as bird baths, temporary puddles, or shallow containers of water.
[10] Chemical Control of Pest:
There may be times you’ll need the assistance of chemicals to eradicate garden pest. These are known as “Pesticides or Insecticides” and are available in many forms and varieties.
Note: Even chemical controls are not always 100% foolproof. Some insects can become resistant to a pesticide and repeated application may only succeed in killing the beneficial insects. In these cases you’ll resort to:
There are 5 Types of Chemical Pest Controls:
*** Pesticide Precautions ***
Pesticides are a great solution to garden pest but can also be hazardous. Please review the “Pesticide Precautions” list at the end of this page before using any brand of chemical pesticide.
[11] Combination / Integrated Pest Control:
This is the “GREAT” approach!!! It is the combination of all methods and allows you flexibility in pest control. If more organic methods such as beneficial bugs are not working you can temporarily switch over to chemical solutions. On the other hand, if a garden pest becomes resistant to a pesticide you have the fallback of beneficial insects or other choices to combat the issue. Free Newsletter Please sign up and enjoy our Gardening Advisor Newsletter. In this you will read both fun and serious gardening information covering a wide range of topics.
We will gaurd your Email with great care and NEVER send spam or sell your information. Beneficial Insects That Feed on Garden Pest: There are many beneficial insects that will eat the pest in your gardens. Some of them include:
Praying Mantis – This is a remarkable insect that grows to about 4 inches in length. They eat many different insects including moths, flies and mosquitoes.
Lady Bugs – They eat aphids (up to 60 per day) and are pretty insects to have in your garden.
Parasitic Wasp – They attack aphids.
Assassin Bugs – They prey on many different insects. This bug is ¾ to 1 inch long with an elongated head.
Bigeyed Bugs – They prey on aphids, caterpillars, mites and other pest and their eggs. These bugs are small 1/8 to ¼ inch with very large eyes and clear wings.
Ground Beetles – These are predators of soil dwelling pest including snails and slugs. They will also eat insects feeding on plants and are between ¼ to 1 inch long and iridescent black or brown color.
Larvae of Hover Flies & Flower Flies – These feed on aphids and are about ½ inch long. They are bee-like in appearance with yellow and black or white and black stripes. They can be seen hovering and flying around flowers making a buzzing sound like bees do.
Ichneumonid Wasp</b> – These are both predators and parasites to caterpillars, beetle larvae, and other soft bodied insects. It’s the adult females that kill their prey immediately by stinging them and feeding on their body fluids. Note: They will also deposit their eggs into host insects.
Lacewings (or, Aphid Lions) – These are generalist predators eating a variety of insects. They are delicate ½ to ¾ inch insects with large eyes, large heavily veined wings, and are green or brown.
Minute Pirate Bugs – These feed on caterpillars, spider mites and other insects and their eggs. They are ¼ inch long and are silver and black.
Rove Beetles – These feed on mites, aphids and immature flies. They are 1/10 to 1 inch long with short wings.
Soldier Beetle – They eat aphids, cucumber beetles, various caterpillars and other insects and their eggs. They are 1/3 to 1/2 inch long and are brown or black.
Spined Soldier Bugs – These feed on several different species of beetle and caterpillar larvae. They are ½ inch long, brown colored with tiny spots and are shield shaped.
Others – There are many other beneficial insects as well.
Beneficial Creatures for your Garden:
There are many beneficial creatures that eat insects. Some include:
Bats – This winged wonder can consume incredible quantities of insects each night.
Birds – They consume many insects and are easy to attract to your garden area with feeders and bird baths.
Frogs & Toads – All varieties of frogs and toads eat large quantities of insects.
Others - There are many other beneficial creatures as well. _________________________________________Pesky Insects worth mentioning:
Pesky Creatures worth mentioning:
*** PESTICIDE PRECAUTIONS:
1- It is the responsibility of the pesticide user to follow all directions listed on the pesticide label. This includes all restrictions and precautions! It is dangerous and possibly illegal to do otherwise!
2- All pesticides should be stored in their original containers with the labels intact.
3- Keep pesticides LOCKED UP! Keep all pesticides OUT OF REACH TO CHILDREN!
4- Refer to the label and use pesticides according to those directions. This includes dosages and intervals to avoid illegal injury to people, animals, or vegetation.
5- Apply pesticides carefully to avoid drift and contamination of “non-target” areas.
6- Surplus pesticides (and pesticide containers) should be disposed of in accordance with the pesticide label instructions. This avoids contamination of water or land and inhibits other hazardous conditions as well.
7- State and Federal laws are strict to protect us and our environment from harm. Follow all directions on the pesticide label regarding these restrictions.
8- You must avoid any action with regard to pesticides that can potentially harm endangered species or their habitat. Your local County Extension Agent can give you the information regarding endangered species in your area. The Fish and Wildlife organization in your area can also assist in this matter.
9- If in doubt about any pesticide or the use of, DO NOT PROCEED! Stop and get advice. Doing nothing is better than action you can’t reverse. Pest Control is essential to the health and beauty of your gardens. You can easily get rid of non-beneficial pest and replace them with “good” beneficial creatures and have great results. |