Avoid chemical pest control

IF I learned one thing about teaching insect pest control for the garden, it is that people have allowed themselves to be conditioned to the "silver bullet" method of control.

The silver bullet method relies heavily on applying some sort of product to kill insect pests in the garden. This foolhardy method of control requires perpetual use of product, ongoing obedience to purchasing and a failure to understand the garden's ecology while ignoring the long-term view.

Here's a secret that most consumers do not know about using chemical pest products in the garden: There are no curative chemicals, there are only preventative chemicals, meaning no chemical can completely eliminate insects, chemicals can only control insects. Therefore once you start spraying, you become a slave to spending money on a product that has no hope of permanently eliminating pests from the garden. To put it into a context we'll use a simple scenario. If you spend $10 twice a year on insect control to buy a product that you spray for 10 years, you will have spent $200 and the pest will continue to appear year after year. Even if you do control the pest by upgrading to evermore toxic products, the environmental damage is unseen and lasts through the lifespan of your children.

Here's another secret that "they" do not want you to know: Insects genetically mutate to develop resistance to chemicals. The more society sprays chemicals, the faster insects breed resistance. In the same way that human disease causing agents become resistant to antibiotics, garden insect pests also develop resistance to chemicals. Worldwide, more than 500 species of insects, ants, mites, and spiders have developed some level of pesticide resistance (Source: Michigan State University, grapes.msu.edu). And insect resistance to pesticides has only occurred since society started widespread use of pesticides in the 1950s.

With all of that information in mind, here are some simple solutions to help control insects in the garden.

Feed me: Healthy plants are known to be more likely to withstand pest attack. But feeding with chemical fertilizer leads to soft growth that is desirable to insects. Feed your plants by incorporating animal manure or compost at time of planting. And always mulch your plants because mulch is a source of slow-release nutrient. The persistent myth that ornamental plants need regular fertilization is a product of seductive marketing and not true, so don't waste your money.

Time to die: I know that many soft-hearted gardeners cannot stand this option of pest control, but it is the most effective long-term solution for plants that are chronically affected by insect attack. So dig up that pest ridden plant, compost it and replace with a different species of plant and your pest problem will be solved, permanently.

Is that the right plant for that spot? Of all the things in the garden that we have control over, plant selection is the most important. Choosing the right plant for the right place can prevent a lifetime of pest problems. If you like a particular plant, then find the right place in the garden for it to grow according to its preferred growing conditions, not the place you want it to grow.

You mean I shouldn't kill those aphids: Yes, that is correct. To obtain stable, long-term pest control there must be some insect food for predatory insects to eat. If you continually spray to kill all insects then you are removing the food source for wasps, lacewings, ladybugs and other predatory insects that provide free insect control. For many people this paradigm shift in thinking is the hardest philosophy to accept and comprehend. But it works, it's free, healthy for the environment and provides an opportunity to teach children a gentler, kinder and more effective way to grow a healthy garden.

I don't know what it was but I sprayed it just in case: This type of archaic thinking has led us to believe that all insects should be killed. Spraying without accurate identification is blind ignorance, damaging to the environment and expensive financially. Before you try to control any insect pest you must accurately identify the problem. Today there are so many Internet resources to help identify insect pests that anyone with a computer or smartphone can easily identify any garden pest. But a word of caution, only use .edu or .gov websites to assure accuracy.

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Avoid chemical pest control