Integrated Pest Management
Pest management
17 August 2023
Learn the five pillars of smart pest control: Identify, Monitor, Tolerate, Prevent, and Control. This approach prioritizes plant health and natural defenses, keeping chemical solutions as a last resort.
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As troublesome as pests are, they are a big part of nature and play important roles in our ecosystem. Embracing this idea, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a strategy that aims to keep plant pests’ population low, rather than eradicating them completely. This is done through a combination of techniques that is environmentally friendly and affordable.

The Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Approach
Identify your pests
Identifying pests correctly is the most important part of pest management. Different pests will need different management methods, so being specific is the most efficient way.
Explore pest pages to learn about pests and their life cycles!
Monitor for pests
Check your garden regularly for plant pests, ideally whenever you visit the garden.
Plants that are overgrown, with distorted or holey leaves, discoloration, damaged stems, or slow growth might be harbouring pests! Look for them wherever something looks amiss.
Tolerance
Strive for ecological balance rather than perfect aesthetics.
It is generally not possible to have a garden completely free of pests without also affecting beneficial biodiversity, like pollinators.
Prevention
The first line of pest control is to prevent the pest from becoming a threat.
Keeping plants healthy, using hardscapes like netting, quarantining new plants, regular pest checks and general maintenance are good ways to prevent pests from taking over your garden.
Control
There are various methods for controlling pests, including cultural, mechanical, biological and chemical.
Chemical control should always be the last resort, as improper use of pesticides may cause damage to your health and the environment.
Learn about different pest control methods, and how they should be used.
