Avoid Pesticides

You can use different gardening techniques to prevent insect infestations and avoid the use of pesticides that harm bees and other pollinators.

The best way to avert pest and disease problems in your garden is through appropriate plant selection. Choosing plants that are adapted to the climate and that are not prone to major pest problems helps avoid the use of pesticides. I frequently recommend the use of native plants in landscapes because they are better suited for the environment in which they became naturalized. Native plants are also more beneficial for native pollinators than exotic plants.

If a plant in your garden always has an insect pest attacking it, remove and replace it with something else. In places such as vegetable gardens and annual flower beds which are continually being replanted season after season, rotating crops and annuals is a good solution. Certain insects will die without their host plant, so the insect infestation goes away when crops are rotated. Therefore, vary what you plant in those areas as often as you can.

There are also homemade remedies (the internet is the best resource) that are useful against garden pests. Insecticidal soaps are also effective but must be applied safely to protect pollinators. Spray at dawn or dusk when the pollinators are not present; this gives the spray enough time to dry. The residue that remains on the plant surface is not toxic to pollinators.

The more we learn about pesticides, the more we discover how unhealthy they are for the environment and humans. Research has also shown that pesticides create more problems than they solve. Continually killing pests with insecticides makes them become more resistant to chemicals. It also kills the good insects that prey on pests, breaking nature’s delicate balance. Fostering this balance is what every gardener should strive for in order to keep our world safe for not only ourselves but for our beneficial insects and pollinators.