Insect Pest Control

Because some insects can damage your landscape and garden, insect pest control is important. Not all insects are pests. Some insects (such as bees) provide helpful services and are part of a thriving ecosystem in your yard.

Although you can treat most insects with insecticide, these chemical solutions rarely distinguish between helpful insects and pests, and may kill insects that do no harm. Many pesticides are also potentially harmful to animals, people, and the environment.

Prevention is the best insect pest control. You can use many non-chemical management techniques to help prevent unwanted insects from causing a problem. Below are some general guidelines to help you have the healthiest possible plants and to help defend against insects:

• Choose your plants carefully. Make sure that they match the site in terms of soil type, drainage, and sunlight received, and are compatible with your climate.
• Choose plants that are resistant to common pests. For instance, paper birch is especially susceptible to bronze birch borers. Choose plants that are hardy and not often affected by the run-of-the-mill insect.
• Encourage natural enemies in the insect world. Insects eat other insects, and if you promote competition in that way, the populations remain lower and are less likely to target your plants. A variety of flowering plants that bloom at different times throughout the growing season are especially good at encouraging natural enemies.
• Promote diversity by selecting a variety of different plants that are resilient to different pests. Planting a variety of vegetation in your landscape can ensure that even if one particular plant is ravaged, your entire landscape does not suffer.
• Promote the general health of your plants through proper care. Make sure that you follow a schedule of watering, pruning, mulching, and fertilizing.
• Check your plants regularly to ensure that an infestation does not have time to strengthen and take root. Take care of any problem immediately. Some non-chemical methods that work well for insect pest control include hard water sprays to keep aphid populations in check and cardboard or metal rolls to protect against cutworms.

Natural Insect Pest Control Products

Information about specific insects that affect rose bushes.

Rose photo courtesy of www.cepolina.com/freephoto/.

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