Mastering Pest Prevention: Proactive Steps to Safeguard Your Garden

Are nasty bugs chomping down on all that precious produce you’ve worked so hard to grow? You can’t let all those bugs take your goods. Fortunately, you don’t have to. You can create an IPM or Integrated Pest Management plan to control and eliminate pesky garden pests.

When it comes to garden pest control, there are natural ways to protect your vegetable garden. Avoiding the use of pesticides is essential for many reasons. After all, if the food that goes from your plate to your body concerns you, you’ll want to try natural garden pest control methods. And if you have pets, some pesticides can cause serious harm to your furry friend.

Natural Ways to Protect Vegetable Gardens

Insect pests can wreak havoc on your garden. They can chew holes in flowers and leaves and even kill your plants. We understand that some people are quick to resort to chemical warfare to spray away pests. However, pesticides can harm the environment. Plus, who knows what these chemicals are doing to your health?

Try natural garden pest control methods. When using integrated pest management, there are some basic steps to follow. We’ll start with the steps that have the least impact on the environment.

Prevention

A healthy garden starts with prevention. Simple steps can prevent pests from becoming a problem in the first place. Here’s what you can do:

• Clean up garden debris in in-ground vegetable patches and around raised beds: when you clean up fallen leaves and other debris, insects have fewer places to hide.
• Monitor the plants in your garden daily: check for insect infestations. Early detection can make it much easier to control an infestation. Some garden pests, like aphids, can be easily sprayed off with a strong stream of water.

Biological Controls

Anyone who has tried natural garden pest control knows you can use nature to control pests. For example, ladybugs are a beneficial insect. If you’ve got aphids munching away on your plants, bring on the ladybugs—they love to feast on aphids. Ladybugs also effectively control whiteflies, spider mites, thrips, and scale insects.

Cultural Controls

When we talk about cultural controls, we’re referring to natural garden pest control methods that directly influence the pest population. For example, you can be careful not to overwater or overfertilize. It also helps to plant robust varieties during the best time of the year. Plants grown at the right time and those that receive adequate sunlight, moisture, and nutrients are better prepared to ward off pests.

Mechanical and Physical Controls

Controlling pests in the garden often means using a combination of methods. When used correctly, it can make your garden thrive. For example, once you’ve utilized biological and cultural controls, you can try using mechanical or physical control methods. One example of this method is to use a row cover, which you can use to keep cucumber beetles from laying eggs on your cucumbers.

Chemical Control: THE LAST RESORT

Using chemicals should always be your last resort if you have tried natural garden pest control methods to no avail.

Experience Quality Service. The Difference…Is Growing

Westturf firmly believes in using an Integrated Pest Management system that best suits your property. We take pride in managing properties with little or no chemicals. Contact us at 760-650-3120 or get a quote today.