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Integrated
Pest Management
 The
Sensible Approach to Lawn Care
Many
pest problems can cause your turf
to look bad – diseases, weeds,
insects, and animals. If you are
really unlucky, you may have all of
them at one time.
So
what do you do? Use a pesticide? Or
make changes in cultural practices?
Both methods, and some others as
well, may be needed. The balanced
use of all available methods is
called Integrated Pest Management (IPM).
The idea is simple. It involves the
use of all available prevention and
control methods to keep pests from
reaching damaging levels. The goal
is to produce a good turf and
minimize the influences of
pesticides on people; the
environment, and turf.
IPM
Methods
- Use
of best-adapted grasses.
- Proper
use of cultural
practices, such as
watering, mowing, and
fertilization.
- Proper
selection and use of
pesticides when
necessary.
Early
detection and prevention, or both,
will minimize pest damage, saving
time, effort, and money. Should a
problem occur, determine the cause
of causes, then choose the safest,
most effective control or controls
available.
When
chemical control is necessary,
select the proper pesticide, follow
label directions, and apply when
the pest is most susceptible. Treat
only those areas in need. Regard
pesticides as only one of many
tools available for turf care.
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Topics
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