Credit: Bee City USA – Talent, OR
Part IV: Non-Chemical Management Tools for Outdoor Landscapes
Pesticides can provide temporary relief from unwanted insects, weeds, or plant disease. However, they are less effective at addressing the root cause of pest problems. Pesticides may even worsen pest problems over time while harming pollinators, beneficial insects, and community health.
The good news is there are many ways to manage pests without using pesticides like insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides. We’ve compiled a variety of techniques to consider. This menu is by no means exhaustive, and methods that work in one community may be less effective in another. Pest management techniques are specific to the pest and location they are addressing, so check with your local university extension office or other nearby experts for specific guidance.
Back:
- Put the right plant in the right place.
- Replace pest-prone plants with native species that are less susceptible to pest damage.
- Improve soil health.
- Decrease or increase watering, as needed.
- Use compost instead of fertilizer to add nutrients to the soil if needed.
- Adjust mow height or frequency to reduce turf stress.
- Sanitize tools when moving between plants.
- Remove food waste from outdoor eating areas, and keep trash cans securely closed.
- Aerate turf lawns to improve air flow, reduce soil compaction, and control thatch.
- Spray pests off of plants with a blast of water.
- Remove pests by hand or with a jar.
- Remove pests with a vacuum and discard the contents.
- Remove infected plant materials and throw them away.
- Install fencing to exclude deer, rabbits, or digging animals.
- Put fine mesh netting over plants to exclude insect pests.
- Hang wasp traps in early spring.
- Use trap trees to lure and destroy invasive insects like Emerald Ash Borer.
- Use diverse, native plants, which will attract beneficial insects that eat pests.
- Delay your spring garden clean up to provide shelter to beneficial insects that eat pests.
- In the fall, put down those pruners and keep your garden garbage to provide winter shelter to beneficial insects that eat pests.
- Introducing commercially produced natural enemies (e.g. buying lady beetles from the store) should be approached with caution and generally avoided. This approach is often ineffective, carries risks like disease transfer, and can even interfere with the pest control provided by the natural enemies already present.
- Remove weeds manually or with tools, especially before they go to seed.
- Steam or flame weed.
- Use a brush hog or rotary cutter.
- Rent goats or sheep.
- Smother weeds with mulch. Get creative and use locally available materials like leaves, woodchips, straw, bark, pine needles, nut hulls, rocks, or gravel.
- Smother weeds with sheet mulching aka “lasagna composting”.
- Use reusable plastic sheeting for silage tarping.
- Use a “living mulch” to suppress weeds.
- Mow less and embrace flowering weeds.
- Adjust mow height or frequency to reduce weed pressure.
- Remove standing water every few days from gutters, tires, plant pots, birdbaths, and other outdoor items.
- Add water pumps with a screen to backyard ponds.
- Use fans to keep small flying pests away from gathering places.
- Wear pants and long sleeves and apply insect repellent to clothing in mosquito-prone areas.
- Ensure that your mosquito control district is following ecologically-sound practices.
- Allow tidal flushing of waterways in coastal regions.
Toolkit: Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Plan
Back:
Xerces Society Resources
- NEW! Need help with your community’s IPM Plan? We now have free IPM Office Hours.
- Handout: 10 Questions to Ask Your Local Land Managers About Pesticide Use
- Handout: Smarter Pest Management: Pollinator Protection For Cities And Campuses
- Handout: Supporting Ecologically Sound Mosquito Management
- Handout: Buying Bee Safe Plants
- Handout: Offering Bee Safe Plants
- Handout: Protecting Pollinators from Herbicides
- Booklet: Organic Pesticides- Minimizing Risks to Pollinators and Beneficial Insects
- Booklet: Help You Community Create an Effective Mosquito Management Plan
- Booklet: Habitat Planning for Beneficial Insects: Guidelines for Conservation Biological Control
- Webpage: Rethinking Pest Management in Towns & Cities
- Videos: Bee City USA Webinars and Videos (Videos at the bottom of this page)
- The Xerces Society has habitat signs available for a donation in the Gift Center. But we encourage you to make your own, too!
External Resources
- University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program
- California Department of Pesticide Regulation: Model Program School IPM Guidebook
- Washington State University Pesticide Resources and Education Program
- New York State Integrated Pest Management: Community IPM
- US Environmental Protection Agency: How to Report Pesticide Incident
