Best Pest Control For Garden Pests (Mooresville Exterminators)

There is no doubt that plenty of Mooresville locals have green thumbs, and they help give Mooresville that fresh feeling and beautiful scenery each time you walk down a neighborhood. These gardens give plenty of benefits to the city; they give residents plenty of fresh air, keep people cool, they give animals and beneficial insects shelter, and are a great source of healthy foods for everyone.

For gardeners, though, there are some things that they need to watch out for, like keeping the soil healthy. Also, making sure plants receive water and are getting enough sunlight. Then there are pests.

Pests are unwanted insects or animals that eat and destroy crops and other parts of plants. Both farmers and home gardeners hate and fear these pests. In this article, Go-Forth Pest Control, the leading Mooresville pest exterminator, will give tips about controlling garden pests.

What Are Pests?

Pests are insects or animals that adversely affect human activities. In the case of gardeners and farmers, pests bring terrible damage to fruits, vegetables, and plants.

Perhaps the most stressful and heartbreaking experience for a gardener is walking outside to inspect the plants, only to find out that there are chew marks and holes on the leaves in all of the plants that were healthy just a moment ago. Of course, these could only have been done by garden pests.

The Worst Things For Your Garden

Garden pests are probably one of the worst things to have in the garden. These pests include but are not limited to, aphids, caterpillars, locusts, slugs, beetles, worms, birds, raccoons, and squirrels.

Insects can hide under the soil, under the leaves, in old weeds, and in many other places. Birds are another problem for gardeners like you. I know it is quite stressful because you have to monitor your garden at all times during the day for birds that would try to eat your fruits and vegetables and shoo them away. The thing with birds is that they are so hardheaded and would come back a few minutes later.

Then there are gophers. If you have dying plants and notice mounds of dirt around your garden, then you can suspect that gophers are in your territory. Gophers belong to the rodent family. For those who are unfamiliar with these animals, gophers are about five to fourteen inches long, with black or light brown furs and small tails. Some are white in color.  

Are Pesticides Advisable?

Most gardeners usually resort to chemical pesticides that can be bought from the store. This is an easy way to control pests because it is so convenient and, well, easy to use. With that said, pesticides do more harm than good in the long run. However, due to clever advertising by the large companies that produce them, many gardeners do not know about the damage chemical pesticides can cause. Clever marketing also makes people unaware of much better alternatives. Advertisers know our weakness, and that is we would rather look for quick fixes that work in the short run without thinking about its long-term repercussions.

Chemical pesticides can damage the soil, but the more important effects are in our own health. There is a reason why pesticides effectively kill pests: they are poison. These chemicals are poison to humans and pets too. Pets can accidentally ingest something that had been sprayed with pesticides, while kids who like to go down to the ground, might accidentally touch things with pesticides and put their hands in their mouths, eyes, or nose. Also, they eliminate species without discrimination, which means they kill even helpful insects.

Organic Approach

There are other ways to exterminate pests, and we do not have to use chemicals to do it. It is important to keep in mind that having insects in the garden does not immediately mean you have pests. Bees, for example, are highly regarded as the most important insects on the planet. They are the leading pollinators of plants, which means they also help in the growth and distribution of food for all species on earth, including humans.

Another example of beneficial insects is the ladybugs, those pretty and very colorful bugs. Kids know that ladybugs are good luck. Well, there may be truth to that, as ladybugs can really help you in getting rid of those bad-luck-pests in your garden. They feed on several insects like aphids and other small bugs.

One of the first things you can do is to remove piles of leaves where pests can hide. Trim down weeds, remove decaying matter that pests and diseases can be living in while in your garden. You can also turn over the soil in your garden to break apart clumps of soil regularly. This will eliminate any living spaces for these insects.

Another way to eliminate pests in the garden is to use dormant spray. Experienced farmers do this to keep away destructive pests and diseases or put them under control. However, use this around the months of February and March, when the plants are dormant. Also, make sure to carefully follow instructions so that you would not end up killing your (and your neighbor's) entire garden.

Birds can also control pests. Place a birdbath in the garden or grow plants that will attract birds, like sunflowers.

A simple way to control pests in the garden is to place a barrier. Use a light netting and cover a row of plants. This will effectively keep flying pests away while allowing for sunlight to come through. This is useful protection for food crops like cabbage from flea beetles and green beans from beetles.

You can also simply handpick the pests off the plants, then drop the pests in a bowl of soapy water. This will drown them.

With all these years spent using chemical pesticides, our ecosystem has been disrupted, and sooner or later, all our lands may become unfit for our use. Pesticides remain in the soil long after it is first applied. If this continues, the soil may not be able to produce plants that are our leading source of food.

Some Garden May Be Gaining Resistance To Pesticides

This can be a scary thought—one that you used to see in horror movies. What we are seeing are zombie-like insects in the garden, immortal in their own right. These unwanted insects have become invulnerable to the pesticides over the years, or that small doses no longer work and that you will need to increase the number of pesticides you have to apply. You then have to pay more for pesticides, and at the same time, more and more poisonous chemicals are being dumped in your garden. The result is of course going to be a garden full of poisons. 

Birds Are Being Harmed

I mentioned earlier that some birds can also be considered pests, only because they eat our plants indiscriminately, but I would not want to harm them. That is why shooing them away is my only option.

Research has shown that pesticides have had an adverse effect on the population of local birds. For one, birds eat insects and worms. These insects, on the other hand, have ingested chemical pesticides. The insects, consequently, become poison themselves. If the birds survive, the effects would be seen on their eggs, as their eggshells become thinner. Of course, thinner eggshells means the eggs would break easily when a parent sits on these eggs.

There Is Hope

The good news is that soil can heal if taken care of. For one, discontinuing the use of chemicals will help tremendously. Methyl bromide, for one, can be amended by adding organic matter to the soil.

Hiring Pest Control Professionals

You may also choose to hire pest control professionals to do all the dirty work for you. Choose the ones that use only the safest pesticides. Be careful not to hire a company with unlicensed technicians. The company itself has to be accredited by the National Pest Control Management Association. If you are unsure as to who to hire, ask around for recommendations. You may also look through the internet for pest control companies that are highly rated by consumers.

To make things easier for you, just look for Go-Forth Pest Control, the best pest control management in Mooresville, NC. 

Why Go-Forth Pest Control?

If household or garden pests or both are overwhelming you, do not worry. Go-Forth Pest Control will be there with you in every step of the way. They will seek out these pests, and work with you in coming out with a plan. Their methods are proven safe and effective, as evidenced by their satisfied customers.