How to Select Pest Controls

In the dog-eat-dog, aphid-eat-rose world of gardening, it's just about impossible to eliminate all pests. Here are a few tips to keep pests under control in ways that are safe for you and the environment.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Match plants to the right location. A plant under stress because it's in the wrong place will be vulnerable to pests. Poor soil that drains slowly can lead to disease problems. Some plants need good air circulation to keep problems at bay--powdery mildew will plague roses planted where air circulates poorly.

2. Seek out lists of pest-resistant plants for your area.

3. Know the good bugs from the bad. Go to the library or search online to find gardening resources on pests, identifying good insects, such as ladybugs, that eat bad ones, such as aphids. Top sources are local extension agencies; for a national overview, check the U.S. National Arboretum (usna.usda.gov).

4. Investigate which pests are causing damage to your garden. Some signs are easy: a silvery trail indicates a slug or snail, for example. If petunia blossoms look chewed up, look for peppersize droppings--signs of budworms.

5. Diversify your garden by growing a wide variety of flowers, shrubs and trees. This provides both food and a haven for birds and beneficial insects that will dine on harmful insects.

6. If deer are a problem, check with your county's cooperative extension service for a list of plants that deer won't eat. If you get desperate, an 8- to 10-foot (2.4 to 3.0 m) fence around your garden will keep Bambi and his friends out.

7. Cage the trunks of new trees to prevent grazing by deer, squirrels and rabbits.

8. Experiment with low-tech control methods. Use the hose to spray aphids off roses in the morning so the leaves have all day to dry. Put a wet, rolled-up newspaper among dahlias at night, and in the morning shake out all the earwigs into soapy water. Use insecticidal soaps for aphids. Inspect tomato plants daily for hornworms as big as your finger and camouflaged; pick them off and dispose of them.

9. Buy yellow sticky traps to control whiteflies around tomatoes, or other pests such as aphids, leafhoppers, leaf miners and wasps. The bugs are attracted to the color and get stuck. You can buy a pack of five traps for less than $5.

10. Use the widely available biological control Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), sold under the trade names Biotrol, Dipel or Thuricide. This affects caterpillars that eat plants. There are different strains of Bt for different caterpillars.

Tips & Warnings

• Expect a little plant damage. It's inevitable, and you'll live a happier, less stressful life if you accept this.
• Invest in an insect identification book with a garden emphasis. This will help you learn which bugs help and which ones damage plants.
• Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a system for dealing with pests in ways that use chemicals as the last resort. Ask your county's cooperative extension about the program, or check online sources such as University of California at Davis's site (ipm.ucdavis.edu), or Cornell's New York State Integrated Pest Management Program (nysipm.cornell.edu/).