Pest Prevention Principles and Practices
Pest prevention offers a viable option to standard pest control methods. It is cost-efficient. It is “green”. It is something you should already be doing for other reasons anyway. See Introduction to Bugs and Weeds Podcast
What is pest prevention?
Let’s start with a few definitions. They may seem overly simple but will help us to see what we are getting at.
What is a pest?
A pest can be anything that you wouldn’t want around, like bugs in your home, or weeds in your lawn or landscape. It is something that exists in a place where it does not belong. They are there for a reason that we may not immediately understand. To paraphrase Emerson: “Weeds are plants whose usefulness we have not yet determined.” Understanding why they are where they are will aid us in our attempt to prevent pests.
For our purposes on this site, pests fall into two categories: Bugs, and weeds.
What is a bug?
Bugs are things that bug us. They are often insects, but sometimes arachnids, or other things. True bugs suck juices from their host, so we would not be out of place in saying that bugs suck! Some insects are beneficial, but even these become bugs to us when they get into the wrong place at the wrong time.
What is a weed?
Weeds are plants out of place. they may be beneficial in other places, but we don’t want them growing in our fine St. Augustine or Bermudagrass lawns!
What is pest prevention?
Prevention is the act of stopping something before it happens when action is taken to stop weeds or bugs before they have an opportunity to become a problem, that is pest prevention. Pest prevention is pest control before the pests arrive. It is about stopping the problem before it becomes a problem.
What is pest control?
Pest control is the act of managing pests when we have failed to prevent them. Something went wrong, we now have something where we don’t want it to be, and we have to control it’s spread.
How is pest prevention different from pest control?
Pest prevention is pest control in it’s best and earliest form. Pest control is treating the symptoms. Pests are not the problem. Pests are the symptom, the resulting hangover from our poor planning binge. Pest prevention, as a means of dealing with pests, has been virtually ignored. The reason seems to be the same reason that over the counter and prescription medications are so popular. They treat the symptoms. That is not to say that you shouldn’t stop your headache, but that you should try to determine the cause of a recurring headache and fix that problem.
How can pest prevention help you?
Pest prevention can save money, not only on pest control but also on energy, since many of the practices for excluding pests are the same methods needed to properly seal a home from the elements. It can keep your home safe from disease-carrying pests, and from the hazards associated with the need to use pest control chemicals.
How can I practice pest prevention?
On the pages of this site, you will find a unified system of pest prevention, beginning with the outer areas of your property, and ending with you tucked safely away in your nice pest-free home. We recommend starting with: Pest prevention program or Pest prevention topics.
Advantages of pest prevention
Pest prevention is the ultimate form of green pest control. It needs no chemicals, or even organic or natural pesticides, or the energy to manufacture, package, store, or ship them! It has a very small carbon footprint when compared to any treatment type. It is green by nature! It offers long-range positive environmental impact if widely adopted and practiced. It has the potential for tremendous progress for the way we view pest control and the cost of pest control. Pest prevention is important for the same reason that fire prevention is important. Prevention is always better than control!
Purpose of this site: This site is primarily an information website about preventing bugs and weeds from causing problems on your property, it offers a unified pest prevention program that you can do for yourself, additional information and extra details on pest prevention topics and related issues. If you will read these pages, and follow these suggestions, you will be well on your way to being as pest-free as humanly possible, at a lot less cost than standard methods!
To get started, see: Brush control as pest control