Pests Don’t Have to be a Problem: Integrated Pest Management

Spring has arrived! Your garden is likely bursting with new growth, flowers, beneficial life, and a few pests too. Now’s a great time to learn how to manage your pest problems before they get out of control. But the traditional approach just won’t do. Instead, integrated pest management helps you grow a more resilient, bountiful garden using healthier alternatives that are better for your family and the environment.

How to Say Goodbye to Pest Problems

There are multiple ways to control pests and prevent damage to your plants:

  • Chemical controls like pesticides

  • Physical controls like barriers

  • Biological controls like using natural predators

  • Cultural controls like changing your watering practices

  • Mechanical techniques like traps

Pesticides might be common, but there are safer and more effective methods. Over the years, I’ve learned that killing the pests that pop up rather than setting a foundation for prevention means your garden will never grow more resilient against them.

Disadvantages of the Chemical Pest Control Method

All pesticides – eco-friendly or not – are designed to kill. Naturally, there are consequences to eliminating the problem by any means necessary. The good news is that there’s another way. Integrated pest management solves your pest problems while minimizing harm to humans, the environment, and your garden’s ecosystem. 

When to Use a Pesticide

I frequently hear home gardeners boastfully share that they garden organically, but turn around and kill the powdery mildew on their roses with neem or use vinegar as a weedkiller (herbicide). 

Here’s the thing, neem is a broad-spectrum pesticide that kills insects, mites, and diseases. It harms more organisms than intended. If there are beneficial insects – such as ladybug larvae on that rose – they will also perish if you apply neem to control the powdery mildew. 

There are also cautions with using horticultural vinegar labeled as weedkiller. Horticultural vinegar sold as a weedkiller is around 20% acetic acid, which is strong enough to burn skin, eyes, and corrode metal. 

Both pesticides are not an eco-friendly choice. The residual particles wash into our streams, negatively impacting water quality. It’s rare to need to resort to chemical control, but if you do, use the most selective pesticide to do the job and choose products that are safest for the air, soil, and water. 

How to Choose a Pesticide

The goal is to target the pest to minimize risks and unintended consequences. For instance, ant bait stations are a better option than ant sprays. While the ants will take the bait back to the colony, the spray is simply a contact kill and will need to be reapplied. You can also choose to spot-spray the powdery mildew instead of drenching an entire area to reduce harming beneficial insects and pollinators.

We were taught to react to pest problems. But rather than immediately killing the problem, we should seek to understand why the pest appeared and respond accordingly. These insects can tell you a lot about your garden health if you choose to listen.

Integrated Pest Management: An Effective, Eco-Friendly Approach

The goal of pest control shouldn’t just be to kill pests. It’s important to identify the problem and assess damages before you find the appropriate method to manage the pest. When you slow down to do this, you can take measures to prevent the same problem in the future. When pest management is rooted in long-term prevention, you can more easily create a thriving ecosystem in your garden that prevents pests in the first place.

7 Tips For Managing Common Garden Pests 

The best way to control pests is to take an integrated pest management approach to gardening. Here are 7 ways you can ensure your garden stays healthy and strong.

1. Think about your garden layout

The best layout for your garden will depend on your area’s unique microclimate and the appropriate plant varieties for it. While the layout you choose should be functional, it can also be aesthetic. Just be aware that mismanaging the placement of your plants can attract pests, so plan accordingly.

I like to include native plants that support my local wildlife and are good for pest management purposes. My top 3 must-haves for just about any garden are yarrow (Achillea millefolium), sunflowers (Helianthus angustifolius), and asters (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae).

2. Companion plant

Companion planting is an ancient practice that gardeners use to enhance plant growth, reduce pests, and improve garden health. The premise is that certain plants do well together and have a beneficial relationship while others compete and attract pests that are hard to control. Do your research to see what grows best together before you start planting to keep diseases and pests at bay.

3. Pay attention to the sun

If you want strong, healthy plants then be strategic about the location of your plants in relation to the sun. Pests thrive on stressed plants, so ensure your full-sun plants aren’t blocked and low-light plants aren’t in direct sunlight during the hottest part of the day. These foundational pieces are what will help you grow a thriving garden.

4. Provide the right soil and nutrients

Another foundational piece involves building healthy soil. Using compost is smart if you want to grow more resilient plants that don’t require pesticides to flourish. Organic fertilizers nurture the soil, feed the plants more naturally, and prevent the spurt of new growth that attracts seasonal pests. 

And although mulch is extremely important for the garden, for pest management purposes, you want some areas free and uncultivated to protect the beneficial ground-dwelling bees that eliminate the true pests.

5. Water wisely

When it comes to pest control, your watering practices have more to do with it than you might think. Mismanaged watering can cause plant stress and disease in your plant, which leads to more pests.

For more success, adopt water-wise methods like:

Pro tip: Weed after it rains! I take advantage of the soft, likely moist soil to make the typically back-breaking task of weeding easier. 

6. Attract the beneficials

Beneficial insects play a key role in pest management. These animals are also vital to keep our air clean, water purified, and erosion at bay.

I recommend you choose plants that grow seeds and berries for the songbirds in the fall and offer nectar for pollinators in the spring. Remember that your garden can be a mechanism to provide food for you and the ecosystem at large if you let it!

7. Be patient

Though most pests are seasonal and to be expected, perhaps we need to reevaluate our threshold of tolerance. Having some areas of the garden be a bit messy is a good thing! 

An example that comes to mind is the Oak Tussock moth. Its larvae can appear to be devastating the oak's leaves, however, the oak is decades old and has adapted to this seasonal activity. Plus, the moth larvae are food for the songbirds!

If a patio is set up under the canopy of the oak then the patio furniture should be removed during the activity and replaced after their lifecycle is complete.

Seek to understand the root of the problem to grow your resilience as a gardener. In return, your plants will become more resilient as well.

Ways We Can Grow Together

Pests don’t have to be a problem! The key is to plan ahead, take an integrated pest management approach, and avoid harmful pesticides that affect more than just the pests. When you do this, your garden will thrive.

Still have questions? If you’re a Sonoma County local, come to an upcoming in-person event! 

I run many free tabling events and gardening programs. This is your chance to ask me pest control questions, get gardening advice, and walk away with integrated pest management materials.
Live beyond Sonoma County but still want to dig deeper into eco-friendly pest management? My virtual webinars are free to attend. I’d love to see you there.

Suzanne Bontempo