- Author: Belinda Messenger-Sikes
Pesticides and fertilizers applied around homes, residential or commercial landscapes, school sites, and other areas can enter our creeks, rivers, and oceans, degrading water quality. While pesticides and fertilizers can be useful in controlling pests and helping plants grow, their overuse and misuse can harm the environment and human health.
To find out more, see our updated pages on urban pesticides, fertilizers, and water quality. These pages feature plain language definitions of toxicity and water quality and explanations of how pesticides and fertilizers get into our waterways. There's also information about how you can protect our creeks, rivers, and oceans when managing your home and landscape.
Learn about urban...
- Author: Lauren Fordyce
- Author: Belinda Messenger-Sikes
- Author: Karey Windbiel-Rojas
You've heard of terms such as green, organic, natural, ecofriendly, and less toxic to describe pest control products and services. But what do these terms really mean? To different people, they can mean different things, creating obvious confusion. But some of these terms have specific meanings, regulations, and rules when referring to pesticides and pest control. This article aims to clarify the differences.
What is organic?
Some people think organic means no pesticides, but that is incorrect. The term organic (in the context of food production and pest control) can mean no pesticides were used, but it can also mean that only organically acceptable pesticides and fertilizers were...
/h2>Follow these tips for the month of July to prevent pests in the garden and landscape. To see more tips specific to your region, visit the Seasonal Landscape IPM Checklist on the UC IPM website.
- Clean up fallen fruit or nuts to avoid attracting or harboring pests.
- Deter borers by deep watering trees that are adapted to summer rainfall. Avoid pruning or creating open wounds that can also attract borers.
- Cover fruit trees with netting to exclude birds and other
Are grasshoppers taking over your garden? Within the last week, we've received several reports of large populations of these pests covering people's plants, especially in Northern California.
Grasshoppers are a sporadic garden pest. Some years you might only notice and few, and other years their populations can boom. Outbreaks usually occur every 8 to 10 years in California, sometimes lasting 1 to 3 years.
The most destructive and widespread grasshopper species is known as the “devastating grasshopper” or Melanoplus devastator. Adults are light gray to tan with dark stripes on their legs. Nymphs are pale yellow,...
Summer is here and so are the pests! Keep an eye out for the following pests and take these steps to prevent problems in the garden or landscape this June. To see more tips specific to your region, visit the Seasonal Landscape IPM Checklist on the UC IPM website.
- Check plants for leaf stippling or webbing from spider mites. Irrigate adequately, mist leaf undersides daily, reduce dustiness, or spray horticultural oil to...