llar stage. This and other pathogens are effective biological pesticides for very specific pests.
(Published image, GTech media link in comments)
Knowing the difference between good and bad bugs is essential for IPM. You can buy beneficial predators and parasites, but self-managing your garden's free, natural populations is effective. Keep the good guys plentiful and they'll help keep bad bugs at bay, reducing the need for other measures.
Mechanical and Physical Controls
Mechanical and physical IPM controls go directly after pests to capture or kill them and prevent them from reaching their destinations. IPM recommends proactive lawn and garden controls and actions, including:
- Use mulch in garden areas. Mulch prevents weeds and weed seeds from getting light and sprouting.
- Hoe or pull weeds before they establish roots. If weeds escape the hoe, mow or cut them before they set and drop their seeds.
- Place collars in the soil around susceptible vegetable stems. Simple barriers prevent hungry cutworms and other crawling pests from reaching their goal.
- Stretch netting over your favorite berry bushes. This stops marauding birds from settling in and helping themselves to your raspberry and blackberry harvest.
- Stop destructive rodents with mechanical traps. Easy-to-use products such as AMDRO® Gopher Traps provide control for troublesome pocket gophers.
- Hand-pick pests off plants. This physical control puts an immediate end to pests' plant-damaging days.
Using mechanical and physical controls in concert with other IPM methods keeps many types of pest damage low.
An effective IPM program includes pesticides for prevention and active treatment. Pesticides pack necessary and powerful punches, especially when other IPM controls fall short. Invasive Japanese beetles, for example, devastate gardens and skeletonize leaves and blossoms. In Japan, the beetle's natural enemies control it, but its native predators don't exist in the United States. Pesticides help fill that gap.
IPM-appropriate pesticides include the following types:
- Traditional or synthetic pesticides: IPM programs include pesticides manufactured from synthetic ingredients. These include products such as GardenTech® Sevin® brand insecticides, trusted by gardeners for more than 50 years. Sevin® Insect Killer, available in ready-to-use, ready-to-spray, concentrate and granular forms and Sevin®-5 Ready-To-Use Dust are effective on ornamental and edible gardens, lawns and home perimeters to kill Japanese beetles and a broad spectrum of other insect pests as part of a successful IPM program.
- Natural or non-synthetic pesticides: Botanical-based pesticides fall into this IPM group. Based on extracts from different types of plants, these natural insecticides include products such as neem oil, based on extracts from the neem tree, or pyrethrins extracted from special chrysanthemum blossoms. Pesticides in this category may or may not be organic. They also require the same types of safety precautions as synthetic pesticides.
- Preventive pesticides: IPM incorporates traditional fungicides to help treat fungal disease and prevent it from spreading. The University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program recommends clorothalonil-based products, such as GardenTech® Daconil® Fungicide, to protect healthy plants and prevent botrytis blight and black spot in roses.1
By establishing a personalized Integrated Pest Management program for your garden, you can take action — with the right controls — when pests show up, and then rest easy. With IPM principles in mind and GardenTech® brands as your partners, you can build a healthy, harmonious garden.
Always read product labels thoroughly and follow instructions carefully, including guidelines for pre-harvest intervals (PHI) on edible crops and frequency of applications.
Sevin is a registered trademark of Tessenderlo Kerley, Inc.
Amdro is a registered trademark of Central Garden & Pet Company.
Daconil is a registered trademark of GB Biosciences Corp.
GardenTech is a registered trademark of Gulfstream Home & Garden, 