Pests are an inevitable problem that comes with a garden and protecting your home and garden from them can be crucial. Pests can come in a variety of forms such as rodents, birds, insects and more that can damage your home and garden. Therefore you need a range of pest control techniques to deal with them. These can be divided into 3 methods of pest control: physical, chemical and biological. Each one will be explained in this article.
Physical Pest Control
The first pest control method is physical. This includes any pest control that involves trapping, exterminating or blocking pests from entering the desired location. To achieve this, you can use:
- Lethal Traps – Traps designed to exterminate the pest
- Nonlethal Traps – Traps designed to capture the pest
- Wall Spikes – spikes to prevent pests such as birds or cats from entering your garden
- Ultrasonic Repellers – sonic devices that use a frequency to repel pests
- Decoys – objects that replicate rivals or predators to the required pest
Physical pest control methods have several advantages. Firstly it does not include using any harmful chemicals that could affect people, plants or animals in the area. It can also be more a preventative method than reactionary by stopping pests from entering your property. The drawbacks of physical pest control methods can depend on the specific item used. Lethal traps can be considered inhumane although non lethal traps are available.
Chemical Pest Control
Chemical pest control uses deadly chemicals to exterminate pests. This includes:
- Poison – put out to be consumed by the pest to kill them
- Pesticide – sprayed on plants to kills insects
Chemical pest control is effective particularly for larger infestations and has quick results. However it can be very harmful to the environment especially when overused. This can affect humans, plants, animals and even the groundwater. Some pests can even build a resistance to chemicals if they are used too frequently so this approach should be done with caution.
Biological Pest Control
Biological pest control involves making natural changes to the environment to deal with pests. Examples of this are:
- Introducing natural predators – for example introducing ladybugs to eliminate aphids (this can be done by planting the right plants to attract wildlife)
- Introducing plants that repel pests – For example bulbs that repel moles by secreting a smell that is undetectable to humans but mole’s detest
Biological pest control can be the most environmentally friendly method of pest control although it should be done carefully as it could upset the balance of the area’s ecosystem. It is also typically a more long term solution than physical or chemical when done correctly. However, it is not an immediate solution so might not be suitable for particularly damaging and sudden infestations.
Choosing the Best Method
The best pest control method depends on the context of the situation and the advantages and drawbacks of each should be considered before you decide which method to use. You should consider the following things when choosing the method:
- How immediate is the issue?
- How widespread is the issue?
- What type of pest is causing the problem?
These 3 methods of pest control can also be combined to increase the effectiveness such as laying down poison as well as traps to get rid of a rodent infestation. Whatever the method you choose, there is a wide range of solutions available at Primrose.