Protect Your Trees Without Chemicals
People are getting more and more interested in finding ways to take care of insect problems without the use of harmful pesticides. Luckily there are many things you can do to protect your trees that don’t require chemicals.
Keeping Your Trees Pruned And Clean Is A Great Start
In order to have a good foundation for your trees you should healthy soil with a good eco-balance, but this is also helps protect them from insects. Insects are attracted to unhealthy plant material. They are Mother Nature’s scavengers and serve as little cleaning teams for decaying plants. If your trees are unhealthy, the bugs will be there doing what they are designed to do…cleaning the place up! Be sure to clean-up rotten fruit, fallen leaves and diseased plant material.
It is critical to prune your trees every fall. Pruning trees will not only help avoid bugs, it is also critical to keeping the tree strong and disease-free. However, pruning is not simply hacking away at the tree. Proper pruning is an art and a science. Unless you are knowledgeable and experienced in pruning trees, you should contact an arborist experienced in proper pruning techniques.
Add Safe Products To Avoid Bugs
There are natural products that are safe for the environment that can be used to remove insects. One product to try is horticulture oil. As the name implies it is an oil-based product that can be used to control insects and used anytime during the year. It is particularly when used in the fall since it will kill overwinter eggs.
Another product to try is beneficial nematodes. Beneficial nematodes should be used in the spring to kill the overwintering stages of many pests in the soil. Remember though that some bugs migrate in the spring so you will need to use another product to kill those.
Find Plants That Bugs Can’t Resist
One way to get rid of the bugs that destroy your trees is to attract other bugs that will destroy them! Lacewings, which are little green or brown insects with large lacy wings, are particularly helpful. The larvae of the lacewing will destroy aphids, mites, and other small insect eggs. Another helpful insect is the ladybug. The larvae of the ladybug are particularly ravenous and will destroy the larvae of many “bad” bugs.
In order to attract ladybugs and lacewings you could plants like Queen Ann’s Lace or Marigolds. Or you could even plant herbs such as fennel and dill. These plants will definitely draw the type of bugs that are helpful for protecting your trees.
As you can see, there are several ways to protect your trees without the use of chemicals. If you need guidance for pest control, feel free to contact us and we’ll help you diagnose the problem and recommend an eco-friendly solution.
Tags: bugs, chemical free pesticide, environmentally friendly pesticide
