Natural Pest Control | Pest Prevention
Natural Pest Control | Pest Prevention
Natural pest control, at least as it is portrayed on the internet, is a potpourri of often competing ideas. The ideas range from some fairly sound practices, to some downright bizarre suggestions involving almost voodoo like practices. Those are the extremes, and most of the advice in the middle, is collections of suggestions with such things as using mouthwash as a mosquito repellent, dish soap and water to prevent mosquito breeding, and other similar ideas. Some of them do work, but sorting through them can be a tedious, if somewhat humorous experience. Some of them do not even qualify as natural pest control. Some do not qualify as pest control at all!
If you want to achieve a pest free home environment using natural pest control, there are some simple steps that you can take that will help. These are things that should be done anyway, so you will be doing yourself a favor by preempting the “honey do” list. Before you hire a Shaman, or drag out the Listerine, buy a ton of products claiming to be organic and natural, or throw up your hands in frustration and call the exterminator, give these simple, natural pest control practices a try, and you will be well on your way toward freedom from pests!
Pest prevention, the most natural pest control
We can never live a completely pest free existence, but we can make it a lot more comfortable by following a few simple rules.
- For pest free property: Start your prevention at the rough edges, the outer areas of your property. Brush and debris control, will provide a clear zone starting with the parameter of your property to move the pests further away from you. Then follow the directions bellow:
- For a pest free landscape: Good landscape practices will go a long way toward reaching your natural pest control goals. Use pest resistant plants, these are usually native plants. Mulch carefully with weed seed free products, don’t over water. When pruning trees, do it right so that pest, fungus and disease don’t have an entry inside the tree.
- For a pest free lawn: Use proper lawn care techniques such as correct mowing practices. Mow more often, use sharp blades. Use other good lawn care cultural practices such as watering less, only fertilize enough to keep the lawn healthy, don’t fertilize too late in the year, don’t aerify to late in the year. Clean mower between “roughs” and lawn.
- For a pest free garden: Use bug resistant varieties, make sure that the amendments you use are free of weed seeds. You have now taken steps to keep pests off your property, out of your landscape, lawn, and garden, and that should reduce the numbers available to assault your home.
- For a pest free home: Follow all the above steps, and then seal all pest entries into your home.
These steps are just the basics, a short outline of natural pest control using pest prevention as the starting point. Get creative in your thinking of how to carry them out. Use the program outlined on this site to find more natural pest control ideas, by starting with How To Use This Site.
If you start your program with pest prevention, you will have fewer pests to deal with when using other forms of natural pest control such as botanical pesticides. It will save you money, and be better for the environment.
We like to say that pest prevention is the greenest form of pest control. It is also the most natural pest control method. There are pages of detailed instructions and ideas on this site.
September 20, 2008
Tags: Green pest control, Natural pest control, Pest prevention Posted in: Bugs and weeds, Green pest control, IPM, Mosquitoes, Natural pest control, Pest prevention, green pest control practices
