Integrating Pest Management into our Gardens

January 1, 2005

By Mary Giambalvo, Master Gardener

Know thy enemy. While this dictum may be arguable among philosophers and politicians on a human level, we gardeners know it to be true in our world.

Is that insect on the rose bush or bean vine friend or foe? Do we spray him dead or cheer him on? If he is a bad guy, will a hero bug come along to do him in before he devours our plants? Sometimes it is difficult to know.

We do know we want to grow healthy plants with no residual damage to our environment. We love our plants, and we want to do whatever we must to save them, but we also know that pesticides are often over- or misused.

In answer to that conundrum, the University of California, in 1979, developed the Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM). Its purpose is to help Californians decrease harmful substances in the soil, water, air and people. This can be done by promoting natural pest controls, using resistant plants and changing our growing practices. The result is to use pesticides either not at all or as a last resort in the safest and most economical way possible.

We gardeners cannot be expected to know all about every insect or plant disease that comes our way. Because we can be assaulted by different plant problems every year, it is comforting to know there is information to help us assess how to make our gardens and our world healthy.

If you have access to the Internet, go to www.ipm.ucdavis.edu. From there, click on landscapes, gardens, turf. Before you is a wealth of valuable help on identifying your nemesis and dealing with it. There is also a section on beneficial insects so you don't wipe out your potential best friends.

If you do not have access to or the inclination to use the Internet or cannot find an answer to your questions, the same help is available to you through the UCCE Master Gardeners of San Luis Obispo County.

Armed with knowledge and a bit of effort, we can identify the enemy and know that he is not us.

University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Volunteers can provide additional gardening information upon request. Call the San Luis Obispo office at 781-5939 on Mondays and Thursdays from 1 to 5 PM, the Arroyo Grande office at 473-7190 on Wednesdays from 9 AM to 1 PM, or the Paso Robles office at 237-3100 on Wednesdays from 9 AM to Noon.  The San Luis Obispo Master Gardener website is at http://groups.ucanr.org/slomg/. Questions can be e-mailed to mgsanluisobispo@ucdavis.edu.