More natural, and native style gardens may offer answers to some of the difficulties  facing the homeowner. Traditional lawns require a lot of resources like extra water, fertilizer and pesticides to keep them looking the way we have grown accustomed to seeing them.

Good landscape planning using native trees, shrubs and ground covers may produce more efficient results. Perhaps even backyard wildlife habitats will become the gardens of the future as we head toward predicted times of more water use restrictions for lawns. The cost associated with traditional lawn irrigation can be expensive as well. Having a huge lawn and not having the water available to irrigate it could become a big brown ugly fact of life in many states.

If lawn care costs are getting you down, you might consider this idea from the “green” community: To be more green, have less green! By less green, we mean less turf covered area. Turf grasses are pretty efficient at cycling water and nutrients if they are fed and watered properly, and they do a good job of providing clean oxygen, but most of them are not native to our area, no, not even Bermuda grass, and they require more nutrients, and more water than other types of plants in order to maintain that lush green color we all love! They also require an inordinate amount of pesticides compared to trees, shrubs, and ground covers.

This extra cost and attention results from the need to modify the environment to allow a non native species to thrive in it. Sometimes the modifications can be relatively small, but in many cases they become nearly all consuming.

Planting native trees and shrubs can be a nice alternative, and offer a little relief for your pocketbook in these tough times. There are even some pest control benefits if you plant the right combination. If birds are attracted to your yard, they will handle a lot of your pest control for you!

You don’t even have to suffer the ravages of massive lawn and landscape renovation projects to accomplish this. Renovation can occur over a long period of time, gradually allowing and encouraging a more native habitat to take over the non native habitat. The results can be amazing.

Native habitat advantages

Natural, garden like habitats are:

• Less thirsty for water beyond what the weather in an are naturaly provides.
• Less hungry for extra nutrients.
• Less likely to suffer from weather conditions in your area.
• Less likely to be destroyed by pests.
• Less likely to attract pests.
• Less likely to attract non native predators.
• Less likely to cause biodiversity problems.
• More likely to thrive.
• More likely to attract native species which eat pests.
• They will not escape into the wild and displace other natives.

Prevention is where pest control should start, management is what we do for the ones that get by our prevention measures.

The first step in pest management is to be sure that the pest prevention measures we have taken are adequate and appropriate. If there are problems with this, they should be solved before any chemicals are used.

Pest management other than pest prevention

The progression should be from least hazardous to most hazardous, of course starting with:

• Pest Prevention.
• Soaps. It is possible to kill most insects with insecticidal soap, even dish soap and water will work in limited circumstances.
• Some botanical products consisting of various plant oils also work well, but may have a slightly overwhelming fragrance when used in tight quarters.
• Traps can be very effective when used properly, and are available for insects and rodents.
• Commercial chemicals.

Pest control, other than pest prevention should always be approached cautiously, and with safety in mind. It should be remembered that when it comes to pesticides, the label is the law. Pay special heed to the warning found on each and every EPA registered pesticide label:

“It is a violation of federal law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with it’s labeling.”

Keep in mind that the label instructions are not written solely for safety, but also for effectiveness. There are many cases where using more than the proper amount of a pesticide will result in lower product effectiveness. An example of this is the improper use of  glyphosate, the active ingredient in “Roundup”. If too much is used, it will result in the dessication of the top of the plant, without allowing time for the chemical to reach and kill the root.

Pest control should be an integral part of any home maintenance program. Pest control should also be a part of an integrated home maintenance program.

No matter how well your indoor pest control is handled, the insects and other pests on the outside will always try to find a way inside. An integrated home pest control program should include steps to keep the outdoor pests, outdoors. Doing everything possible to prevent pests is the first and best form of controlling pests.

Key points to preventing pests:

• Make sure that the outermost parts of your property are cleared of debris, weeds and brush.
• Mow your lawn in a timely fashion, and at a proper height.
• Trees should be properly pruned to keep them from touching, and if possible, from overhanging the home. This is a good point to remember when building a home, or planting trees.
• Landscape plants and mulch should be kept at least 1 foot away from the home. This is a good point to remember when building a home or installing landscapes.
• Irrigation should be monitored to prevent over irrigating and puddling.
• All low spots, and any receptacles should be drained. See Home Mosquito Control And Prevention for more on this.
• Seal all potential insect and rodent routes of entry into the home. Look for cracks , missing mortar and caulk, and small openings around cables and plumbing.

Why another home and garden website? Well, the fact is, that most home and gardening sites focus on one or two issues, and leave out many of the important aspects of the topic.

Some sites focus on home improvements, and others focus almost completely on garden issues. Home maintenance, and garden maintenance are often left to individual sites dealing with such issues as pest control, or landscape maintenance, and are therefore dealt with as separate topics.

The question of maintenance is often pushed into a corner. Home and garden maintenance should be dealt with together, as a whole, and from a maintenance perspective. After all, if you make an improvement to your home, shouldn’t it be done in a way that will consider it’s future maintenance?