1. Beneficial Insects – Help keep populations of beneficial insects alive in your landscape by utilizing Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs. This incorporates biological, chemical, cultural, and physical methods for controlling disease and pest problems. When chemicals are the only method used, beneficial insects are eliminated.
2. Organic Pesticides and Herbicides – The use of Organic Pesticides and Herbicides such as oils and soaps help to protect the environment from contamination of harmful chemicals. There are many products available that work as well as chemicals, but you must be consistent when using them.
3. Chemical Rotations – If you are using chemicals, rotate the products that you use. If the same product is used continuously pests can build up resistance to the product and the chemical will no longer manage the insect or disease. Rotate products which contain different chemical compounds, target different parts of the disease or pest, or apply them in a different manner.
4. Soil Buster – If plants are being fertilized and good results are not being observed, the soil may be keeping nutrients unavailable to plants. Consider utilizing Soil Buster, a gypsum soil amendment and fertilizer, which unbinds the nutrients from the soil and makes them available to the plant. A soil test would be the best place to start so that you will know exactly which deficiencies your soil has, so you will know which fertilizers and amendments to use.
5. Irrigation – Your irrigation system or schedule may be making your plants sick. All too often, people either over or under water their landscape. We can perform a Water Audit on your irrigation system so you will know exactly how much water you are using, and then educated decisions can be made to determine how much water to apply to the landscape based on climate, soil type and plant type.