Let’s play with an analogy.

Let’s think of rain as being a pest problem. If it rains, and your homes roof leaks, standard pest control methods would be like a bucket that you would use to collect the dripping water coming through your sagging ceiling.

Pest prevention would be like you, taking the initiative to repair your roof, so you could stop having to use the bucket.

You can re-use the bucket many times, but eventually, your problem will become much larger, and much more costly, requiring more buckets, and at some point, some serious and expensive repair work.

Unlike a bucket though, with normal pest control systems, you have to pay for them each time you use them, and you will have a growing and more expensive problem the longer you wait.

Wouldn’t it be smarter to repair the roof at the start? Of course it would! But, the roof only leaks when it rains…

Prevention, whether it is accident prevention, fire prevention, or disease prevention, is always better than trying to control the problem after the fact. We have sayings about it: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”, and “A stitch in time saves nine.” are commonly used prevention proverbs, and timelessly true, but unfortunately, they are not often followed.

Pest control is often approached in a less than systematic way. It should be obvious to even the most disinterested and casual observer that the best place to start is pest prevention. With the emphasis now being placed on green pest control, we sometimes see the same problem at work. What could be more green than pest prevention?

What we have done instead, is to focus on the pests we already have by using pesticides, the over use of which, may have less than desirable results on the pests, on the environment, and on our health, or by using green pest products which although they may be more safe, still fail to deal with the issue. What is that issue? The issue is that pests are symptoms of poor planning, or poor implementation, and can be stopped by proper planning and proper implementation. Certainly, we may need to sometimes resort to green pest control products, or even commercial pesticides, but most pests can be prevented.

Would you rather prevent forest fires, or control forest fires? Would you prefer to control Ebola, or prevent Ebola? The same is true of any disaster or disease. Control is what we do after the fact. It is the methodology we use to manage a problem we did not prevent, or to minimize the bad results of something for which we did not plan. The best control for any problem is not to stop it with the least toxic means, but, to stop it before it starts! The best pest control, the most green pest control, is pest prevention. That is, the least toxic means in every case.

A shift from pest control to pest prevention

It is time to take pest control back to the drawing board! If we continue to do the same things, in the same ways, we will get the same results! Pest prevention is more logical than even the natural, botanical pest control products. Why should we invest so much time and money to control or kill something we could have stopped to begin with?

Systematic green pest control

The goal of this site, is to provide a systematic, “green” approach to pest control using pest prevention, in a logical way, as the foundation for further pest control efforts. We think we have done this. There has been little written on this subject of pest prevention, and what is available is unorganized, and difficult to sort through. We have changed that!

This site is laid out in a logical, systematic way. One page automatically proceeds to the next. It is a step by step pest prevention “how to,” “Do it yourself” guide to working through the problem of pests in a proactive way. There are separate articles on various pest control and pest prevention related topics as well. Many of these will be linked from pages in the prevention program for further information if needed or desired.
The “greenest” green pest control

There is more to it! Pest prevention is also the “green,” eco smart,” “environmentally friendly” method of pest control! What could be a more eco friendly way to control and manage pests, and consequently the use of pesticides, than to prevent the pests to begin with?

For more information on how to follow our green pest control system see: How To Use This Pest Prevntion Site.

Natural Pest Control System

The best pest control system, does not consist of misting systems, electronic devices, pesticides, or nuclear blasts! The systems technology is ancient, simple, and changes little over time. The philosophy behind it has existed since the dawn of time, and it is almost infinitely expandable. It will not harm your health, the health of your neighborhood, or the health of the planet, and with basic skills, you can operate this system on your own, with no special licenses or permits.

The best home pest control system does require some planning, some forethought, and a little manual labor at the beginning, and some maintenance as time goes on, but these are all things that normal home maintenance requires anyway.

This system for controlling pests involves three parts: Prevention, followed by natural biological controls, and finally botanical products.

You can begin to use this pest control system from either end, that is, you can begin inside your home, and work outward toward the outside of your property and beyond, or you can start your pest control system from the outer edges of your property and work from there to the inside of your home.

Prevention

Starting indoors

If you begin inside the home, you will be beginning with exclusion. That simply means, that you seal any internal openings inside the home, where pests might gain entry, such as around window frames, cable and pipe entries, and other such gateways into your living space. Then you work to do the same thing on the outside of your home, and include such things as window screens, door sweeps, and weather stripping.

Landscape

The next step in this pest control system is in the landscape immediately around your home. You should do such things as trim shrubs at least a foot away from the edge of the home. Remove the mulch to a distance of a foot away from the foundation, trim any vines that are attached to walls, and prune shrubs and trees so that they do not touch your home.

Any pest control system would be incomplete without some mention of dealing with trees. Tree limbs, should not be touching your home, or be overhanging your roof in such a way, that they provide access to squirrels and other such small animals. The trees should be properly pruned to prevent infestation by insects and diseases.

The best pest control system for lawns

Regular mowing will help to keep the pest population down. Irregular mowing, will have the opposite effect. This is true of insect, and weed pests. Balance in irrigation, fertilization, and other cultural practices is important in any lawn care system, and proper lawn care, is important in any pest control system.

Clearing the edges

Clearing the edges of your property of brush and debris which feeds and harbors insects and rodents is an important part of this pest control system. Brush and debris is where your problem starts. If you don’t get rid of these problems, the other problems will grow, and the weeds, insects, and rodents will find a way to get into your lawn, landscape, and living space in time. This is one reason that we encourage people who use our pest control system to start with these areas first.

If you are ready to get started visit our pest control system pages.

Natural Biological pest control

The next step in our natural pest control system is the use of natural biological controls. I make a distinction between types of biological controls because some are a long way from being natural. The controls we use are those that are found as native controls in a given area. These will be encourage if your landscape is made as native to your area as possible. What we did in the first part of this system is pest prevention, and we accomplished this through modifying the habitat to make it less desirable to the pests. The second part, will make it more desirable to the predators of the pests that we are trying to get rid of.

Bats and birds consume many of the pests that we seek to be free of. Building a habitat suitable to these predators should cut down on the unwanted insect population. This involves finding out what native insect consumers exist in your area, and finding out how to welcome them to your home.

Such flying creatures as barn owls, will take care of the outdoor rodents, but what about the larger predators and critters? This goes back to the initial ideas of prevention by modifying our habits and habitats.

Botanical pest control

The third step in our pest control system is treatment. These treatment types begin with the least toxic treatments first. That is, botanical products used to get rid of remaining troublesome insects. There are some great products on the market.

We will provide more information on botanical pest control in a future post.