A natural landscape is one that is able to mostly take care of itself with just a little help. When a landscaping company employs preventative maintenance, the need for extreme measures to treat problems in your landscape and lawn should be rare.
Plant care that is focused on soil health and plant health will anticipate the conditions that enable insect and weed infestations–and keep them from getting out of control.
This proactive type of garden maintenance would generally include the following components:
- Periodic soil tests and lab analysis
- Maintenance practices that support healthy soil
- Plant and lawn grass selections suited to region and climate zone
- Plant locations supply correct moisture and sunlight conditions
- Plant care practices support plant health
Stressed plants attract pests. Assisting your natural landscape with proper watering, planting in the right location, planting in the correct habitat for moisture and sunlight (or shade) supports plant health and resistance to pest pressure.
To be clear, pest insects are as much a part of a natural landscape environment as are the beneficials. Our efforts are simply meant to assist the landscape in keeping the numbers of pest insects and weeds to a manageable level.
Attending to Cycles In a Natural Landscape: When Insects Emerge
Are there certain times of year that we should expect particular types of insects to come out? Absolutely. Insect activity is a part of the natural cycle in your landscape. The majority of pests emerge mid to late spring.
Spring Insect Pests: Caterpillars and Aphids
Caterpillars and aphids feed on new tender growth before bud break, just as the leaves are emerging. Once leaves have had time to mature and harden off, their stems become more woody and the leaves get a waxy coating that makes them less appetizing to the insect.
Summer Insect Pests: Bagworms
Bagworms are a type of caterpillar that forms a bag around itself. They feed on conifers such as arborvitae and cedars. They venture out of their protective bag to eat in evenings, early mornings or on cloudy days. They are voracious eaters and can take many times their body weight. By late July the moths leave to mate. The female stays behind, lays her eggs, dies, and the eggs over winter in the protection of the silk bag. The cycle will repeat if you don’t intervene during the “crawler” stage of the bagworms’ lifecycle.
Late Summer/Early Autumn Insect Pests: Japanese Beetles
Japanese beetles become active in early July through October. They feed on Lindens, crape myrtle and roses. The best preventive strategy for these and other pests is linked to your plant selection. Insects are specialists. They favor certain plants above others. So, if you have a lot of one type of plant, you will attract a lot of pests that favor that plant. The more variety you have in the garden the more you can control the pest populations by limiting their food source.
When Weeds Emerge in the Natural Landscape
Are there certain times of year that we should expect weeds to take hold in a natural landscape ? Yes. Weeds emerge and thrive during natural cycles just as pest insects do. Early spring and late summer are the most important times.
The best method for non-chemical weed prevention in garden beds is keeping a good layer of mulch. Two to three inches is standard. Mulch won’t 100% prevent weeds but will reduce the number that successfully germinate and break the surface. If weeds do emerge, pull them before they go to seed and spread.
Maintaining healthy turf is the best prevention for weeds in the lawn. Correct mowing height is critical. You want lawn grass tall enough to shade out weeds if they do sprout. Overseeding and aeration combined with a top dressing of organic matter helps develop a dense root system to lock weeds out.
What to Do If Prevention Falls Short?
If, in spite of our best efforts, we sometimes find that insect pests have gotten out of control in our natural landscape. What reasonable and safe interventions are available? In the case of an out-of-control pest insect infestation, there are two types of treatments that can be extremely effective.
Insect Growth Regulators (IGR)
IGRs are specially formulated to affect specific insects when they are early in their development. The IGR inhibits molting, which is how an insect grows, and results in death to the insect.
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Systemic Treatments
Treatments are absorbed by the roots of a plant and delivered throughout the limb structure and foliage. When an insect ingests any part of the plant, it dies. Extreme care must be taken with this type of treatment. Because the material gets into the pollen as well as other parts of the plant, it can harm pollinators. So it is extremely important to use this type of material AFTER blooming has occurred so as not to affect bees and butterflies. For plants that are repeat bloomers (e.g. roses), this treatment is NOT recommended.
What’s the best plan of action?
You’ll want to have a landscape maintenance program in place where your property is being monitored regularly–especially during those critical times of the year when insect and weed pressure are strong.
The best course is to choose a company with personnel trained in integrated pest management (IPM) because they will possess the knowledge and experience to anticipate when insects emerge, where to look for them, how to identify them correctly, and which treatments to apply to control their numbers.
The key to keeping the natural landscape pest population at manageable levels is to keep it healthy. Proper watering, building healthy soil, and putting the right plants in the right location, moving them when conditions in their former location no longer suit them – all of these factors reduce or eliminate stressors on the plants which is an invitation for “trouble” to come and visit.
Perhaps you’ve been wondering how to bring out the fullest expression in your landscape and gardens. Our eBook: Choosing the Right Kind of Landscape Maintenance Firm, is full of valuable information to help you understand the fundamental differences between landscape maintenance companies.