 Time to join the movement away from pesticides
Don Burnett
February 8, 2006
There they go again stirring everyone into a frenzy by placing the fear of spiders, ants, beetles and all things crawling into the public psyche.
Why is it that some homeowners spray the crap (pardon the vernacular) out of their yard or have it done by someone else but get no better results than others who don't spray at all?
We have to get with the times and accept a few creepy crawlies in our environment and stop this business of spraying every time we see something move.
The fact is every time a cover spray, in other words a spray that covers everything, is used in a home or garden, killing off the good bugs as well as the bad, a serious imbalance is created.
The movement away from these cover sprays started 20 years ago and there are still people out there scaring the wits out of home owners by telling them there will be hoards of insect problems this year because of the mild winter and they had better be prepared to get the sprays ready for battle.
The fact is there will be a few situations meriting some sort of mitigation but for the most part sprays don't need to be the tool of choice.
Take the feared Black Widow spider for instance. The mere mention of this creature sends chills up the spine of most people including big huge Paul Bunyan-type guys.
The fact is Black Widow spiders are quite solitary and in an area of a couple of hundred square feet you might find one or two of them. So why do we spray the heck out of the entire yard?
The chances of being bitten by a black widow don't justify blasting a relatively toxic spray all over the place killing good bugs along the way. Keep your eyes open and step on them if you come across one and simply avoid creating the environment they like. As far as Box Elder beetles, ants and other nuisance bugs, if you back off on the sprays it won't be long before they become a non issue because the natural balance of things will take precedence.
I've said for a long time now that we have to have a few bad guys around so the good guys have something to keep them alive. Now don't get me wrong. I'm not opposed to all chemical intervention regarding insects especially with destructive ones such as termites and carpenter ants, and I'm looking forward to newer safer products that focus on the target and not the good guys, but the practice of spraying an entire yard with a broad spectrum insecticide is as out dated as the spittoon.
I know this next topic is a long way from the world of insects but whenever Valentines Day approaches I get the urge to talk about the meaning of flowers.
All my life I've had a close relationship with all things blooming and considering the blossom of a plant is the intimate part where all the action takes place, the old adage "flowers say it best" makes sense at Valentines Day.
Roses are always the most popular and considering they are the flower of love, why not?
There are many alternatives however and I feel there is just as much meaning in giving lilys, carnations, orchids, gerbera daisies, chrysanthemums or a mixture of these with babies breath and statice. Whatever you choose, it's the thought that counts and that's the important thing.
As I will be in Seattle for the Northwest Flower and Garden Show there will be no seminars this Saturday. The seminars will resume the following Saturday with Basic Landscape Design at 11 a.m. and How to Plant a Tree at 2 p.m.
Don Burnett is a Kelowna garden expert.
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