The attempt to get rid of pests has been around as long as agriculture. This industry is growing at a phenomenal rate. The pest control business has grown more than 50 percent in the last 5 years or so, and nationwide it has become a $7 billion industry.
Homes are increasingly being built in places that are off the beaten path . People want to live in the desert or the woods. For an insect or an animal termed a ‘pest’ it is you who is the intruder into their habitat and not vice versa. They only become pests because they come into YOUR home.
One has to ask oneself what Gardening and Pest control actually means?
Simply put it means the reduction or eradication of pests. Structural pest control refers to pests that invade your house or garden ,such as termites or fire ants,while pest control is the manner in which pests are controlled that take over your lawn. That can sometimes spill over into the house as well, but by and large, it’s the garden we’re talking about here.
In order to protect our growing areas as well as our health, proper gardening and pest control is a necessity. Usually, pests are not discovered until their damages have already been done or they explode in numbers. Well there are measures you can take to help eradicate the problem.
What can we do to contain the unwanted pests in our garden?
Both gardening and pest control are considered easy and hence majority sees them as do it yourself jobs. To some extent, it is fair enough. To have control over garden pests requires the acumen of a physician: you need to know the nature of the pests and determine how far these pests have damaged each specific plant before you can ascertain the appropriate pest control technology to use. Polls indicated that too many people feel they know what they’re doing when they don’t, and that they don’t need to read or follow the instructions on the can.
That leads to over-concentrated doses of insecticide for example which could be hazardous to your health and any visitors. Of course we are specifically referring to chemicals, as chemical pest control is still the predominant type of pest control today. Persistent use of chemicals has had a detrimental effect on the environment and this has led, at the close of the past century, to a renewed interest in more traditional methods of pest control.
For those who don’t do DIY gardening and pest control, there is the option of monthly visits from your local home pest control company. One of the benefits of having monthly pest control is that somebody should be checking out your house and garden on a regular basis for pest . Monthly pest control has one disadvantage and that is the home owners are keen that PCOs apply a chemical treatment every month irrespective of the fact whether there is a pest problem or not.
The usage of Home and Garden pesticides are very surprising:
1. Pesticides of 67 million pounds are used on lawns each year.
2. Much more pesticide is applied to city lawn and gardens per unit area than to most farmland.
Before you spray any pesticides, think carefully about what you are about to do. Be careful! Overuse of pesticides may damage the eco system and kill the very insects that are keeping your ‘pest’ numbers down If the pests should return, you may have to spray additional times in the future. Further, various bugs contribute to plant pollination which helps your garden thrive and flourish. The use of carbaryl, diazinon, and malathion insect killers is not recommended. While these may seem to help, they actually provide only temporary control and kill more of the natural predators than the pests you are trying to eliminate. If pest control results in the eridication of enemies then, ironically, pest numbers may increase and become even more of a problem than previously.
Most consumers also don’t realize how potentially harmful they can be:
1. Homes have at least 23 kinds of pesticide tracings in the dust that have been tracked in from outside.Do you, the consumer, know just how dangerous they are to you?
2. Garden chemicals harm the environment, the US Geological Survey routinely finds every type of garden chemical, particularly weed killers, in the streams and rivers around urban centers.
The question of going without such forms of pest control is a thought-provoking one.
Gardening and Natural Home Pest Control
Pest control and gardening is best achieved with a balance of organisms in the yard. Not only is natural pest control safer and more environmentally friendly than artificial chemicals, it’s even cheaper.
There are several methods that can be used to help eradicate gardening pests:
1. Physical controls – traps, barriers, fabric row covers or repellents – are often successful at controlling pests.
2. There are a variety of plants that provide both pollen and nectar constantly. Planting these will attract ‘good’ bugs to your garden.
3. By preventing pests from gaining access to your plants you are preventing their potential damage. When the number of pests is small, you can often get rid of the problem by simply taking them somewhere else.
In conclusion, many people face this same problem. Thousands of people across the world are also looking for home pest control, so we hope this has been of help.