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By using fewer chemicals and relying on natural pest control measures, you help protect our surface waters by reducing the potential for chemical discharges.
10 Alternatives for Chemical Pest Control
- Keep yard as natural as possible by using less grass, more trees, ground covers, flowers, and mulches.
- Choose plants that are native to this region. These plants are heartier and more resistant to pests and diseases than exotic varieties. Native Tree List.pdf
- Use plants that are well suited to your yard's habitat. Consider drainage, sun exposure and soil type when making your choice.
- Prepare a healthy soil base.
- Test your soil for pH and nutrients. A soil test kit can be picked up at the County's Cooperative Extension office. Add what is needed based on results.
- Add compost and organic fertilizer to your garden each year.
- For lawns, aerate soil, overseed, and top-dress with compost.
- Maintain the health of your plants and lawn:
- Prune plants to optimally utilize plant's energy sources.
- Shear off dead or diseased portions since they are more attractive to pests.
- Mow no more than 1/3 of grass blade and leave clippings on lawn.
- Water deeply but less frequently.
- Use only slow-release fertilizers.
- On sloped areas, plant ground covers instead of grass to alleviate mowing and control erosion.
- Use physical controls to exclude pests:
- Mulch
- Compost
- Bark
- Grass Clippings
- Traps
- Sticky Wraps
- Pheromone Bags
- Barriers/Screens
- Floating Row Cover
- Seedling Collars
- Cheesecloth
- Use biological controls.
- Natural diseases such as milky spore disease. A microscopic pathogen that attacks Japanese beetles and is available at hardware and garden stores.
- Beneficial insects. ladybugs, green lacewings, predatory mites, parasitic nematodes. These are available at various supply houses (www.gardensalive.com, www.buglogical.com, www.thebeneficialinsectco.com) and cannot be used in combination with a pesticide.
- Use natural pest control products. Most can be found at a local nursery or hardware store.
- Horticultural oils. A safe alternative that has been used since before the pesticide revolution. It is popular for controlling pests on ornamental plants.
- Insectidical soap. A safe chemical for aphid, mite and whitefly control used by many greenhouses. It works by impairing the waxy layer of the insect's exoskeleton and eventually kills the insect.
- Neem seed extract. Derived from the Neem tree in Africa, it works as a repellant, growth regulator and insect poison.
- Diatomaceous earth. Derived from fossil remains of algae, it is used for insect and mite management.
- Practice cultural controls.
- Hand-pick weeds.
- Till soil in areas of weeds rather than applying herbicides.
- Practice landscape diversity. A pest that likes a certain type of plant is less likely to spread if other species are planted in between.
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