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What is Integrated Pest Management or IPM? |
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Integrated Pest Management or IPM is a decision-making process that uses all necessary techniques to suppress pests effectively, economically and in an environmentally sound manner in order to sustain healthy landscapes.
The elements of IPM include:
- Identifying potential pest organisms
- Monitoring pest and beneficial organism populations, pest damage, and environmental conditions
- Managing ecosystems to prevent organisms from becoming pests
- Managing pest populations using strategies that combine biological, cultural, mechanical, behavioural, and when necessary, chemical control.
IPM Practitioners Always:
- Focus their business on the promotion and implementation of cultural practices such as using optimum soil depth and quality, suitable turf varieties, over-seeding, proper mowing heights, watering, fertilizing, aeration, and de-thatching as components for maintaining healthy lawns and preventing pest problems
- Educate, encourage, and solicit the assistance of the property owner in ensuring that optimum cultural practices are followed
- Prepare all sites for proper application to ensure safety
- Document any pesticides use and inform customers
- Not apply any pesticides unnecessarily
- Apply properly timed treatments to maximize effectiveness. Monitor and document pest populations to anticipate when a treatment will be needed
- Not sell programs that are based on numerous pesticide applications
- Utilize spot treatment methods for the control of weeds and insects. Blanket applications are only used if warranted
- Support mandatory IPM certification for all employees
- Maintain a log of observations on customer's lawns in support of a provincial pest monitoring database
- Offer a pesticide-free alternative to customers who choose not to use pesticides
- Apply pesticides only to target areas
- Implement buffer zones when necessary when treating adjacent to sensitive sites.
Green should mean more than the colour of your grass. It should be the philosophy of your lawn care specialist!
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