Integrated Pest Management

Make it responsible.

Pesticide use can be a touchy subject when it comes to responsibly managing a garden and lawn. Although no use of pesticides would be ideal sometimes it is a necessary course of action. We use an Integrated Pest Management system as provided from the Washington State Department of Agriculture. We begin by identifying and monitoring the pest, and evaluate the damage being done. We then create a plan of action to control the pest and implement preventative measures to help the pest from becoming worse. Lastly we will monitor the results of the plan and adjust if necessary.

Our first approach is to use a biological and cultural control for pests. This ranges from recommending different planting times and irrigation changes to using fungi and bacteria that target specific pests such as aphids and other insects. In rare cases, we will use other insects such as parasitic wasps to control a pest. After all other options are exhausted we will determine if the pest is still a large enough issue to warrant chemical based pesticides as a last course of action.