Insects are our friends. Though there are some varieties that can cause problems
for us, especially if we are gardeners; there are many varieties that are benign,
and others that are beneficial because they control other insects that are pests.
Trying to rid your yard, garden or landscape of insects completely is not
in the best interest of the overall health of your yard.
When you apply
insecticides indiscriminately, you kill all bugs that come in contact with
them, not just the bad guys. If that happens, you either have to continue the
regular use of these poisons (not a pleasant thought), or suffer an increase in
the pest insect population since the natural pest fighters will be wiped out.
If
you
must use pesticides, try using the
environmentally friendly ones like insecticidal soaps, horticultural oils, bacillus
thuringiensis (Bt), neem, and iron phosphate. These safer products can
control pest problems without potentially poisoning your landscape environment
in the process. Also, limit applications to those areas or specific plants that
are affected. This way you can limit the environmental impact and the impact on
your friendly insects as well
You must stay on top of any potential
problems to successfully control them in your yard or garden. Inspect your plants
regularly and closely for any problems they might have. Some of these bad
bugs are hard to spot because they either stay hidden, only come out at night (like
slugs and cutworms), or they are very small (spider mites and thrips). Some
nighttime excursions may be called for if you notice that damage seems to occur
overnight.
The reason for these inspections is to correctly identify
the bug causing your problem so that you can use the correct method of dealing
with it. For instance, if you've got cutworms, it makes no sense to sprinkle
iron phosphate because that will only help you rid your garden of slugs. So proper
identification of the problem pest is an important first step. Once you know
what you're dealing with, you can respond appropriately.
Get to
know which insects are the beneficial ones in your yard. Some rather fierce looking
bugs are actually our good friends - like ladybug larvae. This torpedo shaped,
black colored with orange highlights, bug just loves to eat aphids. But it's
not familiar to a lot of people so they sometimes assume it's a pest. If you
spot a bug you're not sure of, try to positively ID it before taking any action.
It may have appeared on the scene because some prized-plant munching monster
did, and it is already engaged in the process of efficiently clearing up your
problem.
Don't over-react to seeing just a few pest bugs. A few bad
ones are likely to do only minimal damage, so there's no need in these cases to
haul out the full arsenal. Some bugs can be controlled by such measures and hand
picking or by keeping yard debris and waste to a minimum. Slugs can be collected
at night and dropped into soapy water as can some nighttime appearing plant-eating
beetles.
Many of the bugs that we see in our yards and gardens
are not harmful, but just interesting parts of the same fascinating whole that
we are: nature. Killing off a whole yard full of insects is a cause celebre
for only the most anally retentive homeowner. Coexisting with insects is a rewarding
part of the gardening or landscape experience.
Stephanie McIntyre and Wendell Bryant are Internet developers. Visit their
site at http://pestcontrolbugfreezone.com/organic-pest-controlArticle Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephanie_McIntyre
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