January
7, 2005: IPM for Gardeners: A Guide to Integrated
Pest Management is exactly what its title promises: a
gardeners' pest management manual that doesn’t just
describe recipes for treatment, but instead offers a broader
understanding of how plants, insects and pathogens interact—or
in other words, the information necessary to understand why
IPM strategies are effective and how you can put them to use.
As such, it has potential value not just for gardeners but
also for small-scale or beginning farmers who are looking
for an accessible introduction to the principles and practices
of IPM.
Whereas conventional pest management often means simply,
“What do I spray?” IPM strives to reduce pesticide
applications by focusing on plant health, early detection
and long-term, ecologically oriented management methods. Although
usually not strictly organic, IPM relegates pesticides to
a position of last resort. At the garden scale, many would
argue that IPM need not involve the use of pesticides at all.
Cloyd, Nixon and Pataky—all research and extension personnel
from the University of Illinois—walk a middle road between
outright condemnation of pesticide use and advocating unrestrained
use.
The first half of the book is devoted to three chapters on
garden ecology: "Plant Needs," "Disease Needs,"
and the "Needs of Insects, Mites, and Mollusks."
This basic biology lesson forms an essential foundation for
understanding IPM on the garden level. From the effects of
light stress on your garden plants to the nutrient needs of
insects, details of garden biology are presented clearly and
simply, emphasizing the need for understanding the ecosystem
of your garden in order to minimize pest impacts.
Next comes a chapter on identifying and assessing pest problems,
from recognizing feeding types and frass deposits to using
traps to gauge population levels. Recommended management strategies
are divided into three chapters, one each for cultural (choosing
plants less susceptible to pests, mowing and pruning properly,
protecting against cold weather damage), physical (traps,
handpicking, solarization, row covers), and biological (encouraging
and releasing beneficials, planting trap crops) methods. A
short chapter on "Conventional and Biorational Pest Control
Materials" emphasizes the hazards of pesticide applications,
including resistance, secondary pest outbreaks, and impacts
on natural enemies. Finally, a chapter on insect and disease
association recommends methods of handling insect-vectored
diseases like aster yellows, oak wilt, and bacterial leaf
scorch.
Like all Timber Press books, IPM for Gardeners is a handsome
and lavishly illustrated book. It includes 149 color plates
in addition to dozens of black and white photos, tables and
graphs. Suggested further reading, a glossary of technical
terms, and a cross-reference of common and scientific insect
and disease names are included as appendices. A series of
sidebars throughout the book highlight information on topics
such as the nitrogen-pest connection (p. 73), monitoring for
spider mites (p. 87) and pruning to control fire blight (p.
122). Throughout, the authors write in an accessible, straightforward
style that is a pleasure to read.
The authors' goal is "to provide a broader view of IPM
– to discuss how all the components of IPM work together
to prevent or minimize insect and disease problems in home
landscapes and gardens” (p. 169). Well packed with case
studies, this volume illustrates the how and why of plant
pest interactions. If you are out to understand the biology
of your garden—not just find a recipe to kill those
pesky insects—you should find this book both enjoyable
and rewarding.
It should also help give home gardeners a deeper appreciation
of the significance and potential of IPM in commercial agriculture
and horticulture, perhaps leading them to seek out nurseries
using IPM when they buy bedding plants, or to advocate for
IPM implementation in their local school districts, municipal
parks, or places of employment.
Tianna DuPont was an intern at The Rodale Institute in
2004.
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