Pest control Controlling Pests By Prevention

How to control pests in the least toxic way

One of the best ways to think about pest control is through a process known as Integrated Pest Management, or IPM. It is a common sense system of pest management based on the use of all pest management tools, in their proper place, and at the proper time.Integrated pest management is a theory of pest control that starts with one simple idea:

It is always best to control pests with the least toxic means possible.

• New pesticides are being formulated which help to meet this criteria. Lower doses, being needed less frequently, going out at lower rates help to control both the pests, and the amount of pesticide being used.

• Botanical pest control products using essential plant oils, and soaps have been developed which also work very well to control pests.

• Biological pest control products and systems are developing, with varying degrees of success.

More than at any time in the history of pest control, entomologists are considering the habits of pests, and the role humans play in the interaction between people and pests, and pest control products are being developed to maximize the effectiveness of the products used to control pests through proper timing and placement.

Pest control products are becoming less toxic to human beings, and more friendly to the environment. Green pest control products are the order of the day, and they are working. This is good, but as good as it is, this is only a start, and it is starting at the wrong end.

This is the back end of pest control, the place where we have to react in order to control pests that we already have, and while advances are being made, our thinking about pest control has become skewed.

The main component of Integrated Pest Management

The front end of the pest control issue needs more attention. What is that front end, and how will it improve our pest control efforts and our quality of life? To put it simply, it is pest prevention, and it will improve our quality of life by:

• Lowering insect populations.
• Lowering our exposure to pesticides.
• Reducing our carbon footprint.
• Lowering the cost of controlling pests.

Why pest prevention works

Most entomologists readily admit that when it comes to pest problems, we create our own. Something that we have changed in our environment invites the pests to join us. This can be anything from low spots in our lawns which collect and hold water for mosquitoes to use for reproduction, to overfeeding our pets to the extent that neighboring insects, rodents and predators come to see our backyards as being a new restaurant. It can also be something as simple as the number of times we mow our lawns, to something as complex as the plants and lighting we use in landscaping. The lesson is this:

Since our behavior can produce insects and other pest problems, changing our behavior can change the behavior of insects and other pests.

When we choose to avoid these problems by producing a habitat that does not invite bugs, weeds, rodents, and predators into our living space, we are practicing the most effective form of pest control, pest prevention.

Pest control through pest prevention and pest exclusion

Landscape improvement and pest prevention

Improvements in your landscape can have a profound effect on the aesthetic quality of your experience as a homeowner, and can have a positive effect on the the monetary value of your home as well. How you handle these changes in your landscape will have an effect on the pest population in your landscape and your home. This article will give you some food for thought on this important aspect of home improvement!

So you are going to make some changes in your landscape, or completely renovate and reconstruct your outdoor habitat. Maybe you want to add an outbuilding, some raised beds, put in a few new plants, or replicate the garden at Versailles. Before you even put a line on the paper, or a shovel in the ground, let me offer you a few thoughts on how your home and garden interact, and how to avoid some common problems.

How your home and landscape interact

Your landscape design can have a profound effect in how all the parts of your property interact, and the pests that come to visit you. Using plants native to your area is a great landscaping idea, and a great place to start creating a landscape with fewer pest problems. In fact, I think this may be the most overlooked, and highest impact part of creating a minimum pest landscape. Below you will find some other ideas to consider in your landscape design and landscape maintenance. The list is not complete, but should be used as a starting place and a springboard for thinking your project through.

Vines are invasive by nature

Keep vines away from anything you don’t want damaged. Vines are invasive by nature. They probe and connect in order to get better position to get sunlight in the environment. When doing this, they will get into cracks and crevices, and as they grow, will spread the cracks wider. Wooden fences are particularly susceptible. Wooden and vinyl sidings are not immune, nor are brick and mortar joints.These plants provide highways for insects life such as ants, termites, spiders and a variety of others. Vines may sneak into your power and communication lines, and can cause many problems when they do. There is a stop sign about a block from my home that is invisible to unfamiliar travelers because it is engulfed by a rouge wisteria vine. Vines will climb trees and shrubs in the same manner. The inherent goal is to reach sunlight by climbing the tallest object available, and gaining access to the upper portion of the canopy, often preventing light from getting through to its victim.

Trees can break concrete

Keep trees, especially fast growing varieties away from structures that might be damaged by aggressive root growth. Concrete slabs and walkways can be gradually lifted and broken by these roots. These roots often become trip hazards in frequently traveled areas, so plan accordingly. When planting trees, know where your water and power lines are, and your sewer drains or septic systems. Watch where you plant them. It is easy to underestimate the full grown size of a tree, and the urge to plant them too close to each other in order to create a landscape that looks “full” is nearly insurmountable. Tree limbs which encroach on power lines will need to be trimmed on occasion, this should be kept in mind before planting, and while inspecting your landscape each season.

Trees can damage rooftops

Also tree limbs can take a toll on roof tops. Your inspection should include taking a close look at this aspect. A note on this: Before trimming those limbs, keep those power and communication lines in mind, and make sure you do it right so that you protect the health of your tree and your own health as well.

Backyard structures

Structures can provide heat and shade, as well as obstacles to water movement. Be sure that you do not put a structure in a place where the reflective heat from the structure might broil your delicate plants, or where it might be in the way of irrigation water, or cause water to back up and puddle. Make sure that it will not provide too much shade for your lawn or other plant life. Consider the placement of children’s play areas carefully, and make sure that they are not oriented in such a way that they will burn the children’s skin. Heat reflecting surfaces in unshaded areas also encourage fire ants to develop colonies nearby.

Plant native landscape plants

It is a good idea to understand what you are planting. Some species are better suited to some areas than others. Plants that are normally found in your area are better suited to your climate and terrain. There are three ways that a plant from outside your area could react when transplanted.

• It could languish and possibly die.

• It could accept the new situation and adapt to the changes, effectively becoming a part of the environment. It is possible for this to happen, and when a slight climatic change occurs, to either languish, or thrive without controls.

• It could thrive and flourish, becoming aggressive and invasive, and a threat to it’s new environment.

The result of using non natives in your landscape are usually not very good, and some can be devastating. The economic damage done to our environment has reached into the billions, and is increasing at an alarming rate. Make sure that what you plant does not contribute to this problem. Some of these plants are illegal in some areas. Check with your local extension agent or educational and government websites dealing with these plants for more information.

I hope that this has been of some value to you in your quest for the perfect landscape, and provided a springboard to aid you in your creative thought. Happy landscaping!

This site contains information to help you prevent pests, save money, and do something good for the environment! To get started on our pest prevention program, go to Prevention Starts Outdoors, or to  How To Use This Site.

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.

Green Living | Real Estate Buyers Green Guide Pest Control

If you are one of the fortunate people who had all your money in a safe place, and find yourself with the cash flow to work with, and the need for a home, you can find some great bargains now. Just remember to check out a few pest related details before you buy, or your dream home could be more like a nightmare… See:

Be Your Own Pest Inspector Before You Buy

Going batty can be a great way to help control unwanted insect pests. Bats eat mosquitoes as about 10 percent of their overall diet, and a lot of other annoying insects as well, including the moths that are the adults of the infamous “bole weevil” and “corn ear worm”. Bats consume from about 60 to 90 percent of their body mass per night.

Some argue that bats are not effective as mosquito control, since they only consume about 10 percent as a part of their diet, and that bats and birds can only consume a small part of the millions of insects. The argument also states that insect populations increase at a rate so high that no purely physical means of dealing with them is effective.

To counter this argument, let me say this:

• If the mosquito populations are that high in an area, there are other factors that need to be dealt with, such as draining the swamp you are living in!
• That each mosquito removed from the population at large, is one less mosquito to bite you, one less potential disease hazard, and one less left to breed and carry on the species!
• That the numbers of bats should be commensurate with the mosquito population if this is used as a means of controlling them.
• That the use of biological controls such as birds and bats should be a single part of a much wider Integrated Pest Management system. No one I know who uses these control methods thinks that the use of bats is all that one need do to control mosquitoes.

As a part of our services we now offer custom bat houses, built and installed to your specific needs.