Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Advice on Home Pest Control

Agriculture is very old and perhaps gardening and pest control are equally old.

This trade has grown quickly, doubling its growth in the past few years. In the past 5 years the pest control business has grown 50 % and has become a $7 billion dollar business.

More and more homes are being built in remote locations. The desert and the woods are attractive and appealing locations for some people When you're building in these areas where insects and animals live, it's their home. Since they get into your home and are unwanted they become pests.

What is Pest Control?

Simply put it means the reduction or eradication of pests. Structural home pest control refers to pests that invade your house or garden ,such as termites or fire ants, while insect pest control is the manner in which pests are controlled that take over your lawn. It could possibly effect the house also, but it's the garden that we are more concerned about.

Protecting the plants in your garden must be done in order to have healthy produce results. Once pests are discovered in the yard, the damage has gotten out of control. Well there are measures you can take to help eradicate the problem.

What can we do to contain the unwanted pests in our garden?

Many people see gardening and home pest control as a do-it-yourself job. To some extent, it is fair enough. Determining the best pest control for your garden is much like getting a doctor's diagnosis, you need to know what is causing the problem, what to use to eliminate the pest and how to prevent further injury. Through surveys, it has been discovered that homeowners often don't read the instructions carefully or they alter them in ways they think will better solve their problem.

That leads to over-concentrated doses of insecticide for example which could be hazardous to your health and any visitors. Of course we are specifically referring to chemicals, as chemical pest control is still the predominant type of pest control today. However, since chemicals can have long range effects, interest was redirected toward traditional and biological pest control toward the end of the 20th century.

If DIY is not your area of expertise concerning that of gardening and pest control, consider the option of monthly visits from the local pest control company to keep garden troubles under control. If you have your house pest controlled on a monthly basis this means that problems will be detected as early as possible. One disadvantage of monthly pest control is that homeowners insist that PCOs apply a chemical treatment monthly whether there is a pest problem or not!

It is astonishing to see the factual pattern of the pesticides used in the home and the garden:

1 In the lawns each year the amount of pesticides applied is 67 million pounds.

2 Suburban lawns and gardens receive far heavier pesticide applications per acre than most agricultural areas.

Please use any kind of pesticide with greatest caution. You may kill the insects that are helping you keep pests in check. If the pests should return, you may have to spray additional times in the future. Insects can also help your garden grow because they pollinate your plants, helping your garden to expand. Really powerful insecticides, such as malathion or carbaryl, are not a good idea. Avoid these as you are more than likely to end up doing more harm than good with them. When the insects who prey on the pests are decimated, you will notice the quick revival of the pests and, lo, these plant eaters multiply faster soon after you had used the spray.

Most consumers also don't realize how potentially harmful they can be:

1 Twenty three different pesticides were found by the EPA in household dust and air, brought indoors on the residents' own shoes.

2. The US Geological Survey finds a large variety of chemical gardening products,  especially weed killers, in bodies of water near population centers, leaving no doubt that chemical products are harmful to the environment.

The question of going without such forms of pest control is a thought-provoking one.

Gardening and Natural Home Pest Control

We are convinced that the safe and successful way to control pests in your yard is through a natural balance of organisms in your lawn and gardens. Natural pest control is less expensive than buying and applying pesticides, and it's safer for your garden, natural wildlife and the environment.

Let's look at some hints and tips to help your gardening and pest control:

1 Physical controls like traps, barriers, fabric row covers, or repellants may work for pests.

2 Strive to attract good bugs with a variety of plants that produce pollen and nectar throughout the year.

3 By preventing pests from gaining access to your plants you are preventing their potential damage. And in cases where you only see a few pests, physically removing them can often keep the problem under control.

So, you are not alone, this is obviously a problem encountered by a vast number of people. Thousands of people across the world are also looking for pest control, so we hope this has been of help.

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