Insect Control in Your Growing Spaces

There’s nothing quite like the great outdoors, especially in the summertime. Golden rays of sun, flowers blooming, and vegetable gardens full of goodies for a fresh, delicious meal. 

Wait, what’s that itching your ankle? Ouch! Is it biting you? This can only mean one thing – pesky insects are invading your space, threatening to ruin your summer vibes and sunny mood. This calls for some insect control.

There are thousands of species of insects, some more threatening than others. Insect control is arguably one of the most important things you can do to keep your garden or yard your perfect, peaceful sanctuary. Between tick killer, ant bait, and more, there are lots of options to address any insect issues. 

What Types of Insects Live in Gardens? 

Gardens are vibrant ecosystems teeming with a diverse array of life. Of course, this means that there are likely hundreds of different insects in your growing space. From homes for pollinators and decomposers to predators and prey, gardens provide habitat and sustenance for a wide variety of insects. Some of these insects are friendly and helpful, while others are unwelcome guests that require insect control strategies. 

Are There Beneficial Insects?

A sign of a healthy garden is healthy insects. Bees and butterflies are the two biggest examples of beneficial insects, both healthy pollinators. Bees and butterflies fly from plant to plant, searching for nectar and transferring pollen from one plant to another. These are examples of good insects, so always allow them to remain undisturbed in your space. 

Which Insects are Bad for Gardens?

Gardens are also home to a wide variety of harmful insects. Some of the most common insects that usually require insect control are: 

• Beetles
• Ants
• Aphids

These insects often feed on plant tissue, causing significant damage and occasionally even introducing pathogens, causing common plant diseases. The diversity of insects is essential to understand in order to implement effective insect control strategies while also supporting the beneficial insect populations. 

Which Insects are Common in Yards?

Yards also serve as tiny ecosystems and have lots of insect species, many of which overlap with gardens. Grasshoppers, for example, are a familiar sight in lawns, especially ones with lush grass and open spaces, as these herbivores feed on grasses, weeds, and other plant materials. Sometimes, this is a good thing, but other times, they choose to feed on your beautiful grass, causing plant tissue damage and thinning your lawn. 

Ants Are Prevalent Pests in Yards

Ants form complex colonies within your yard, which can be both good and bad. They aerate the soil, but if their colonies grow too large, they risk damaging the soil and its fertility, so you may want some ant killer. Certain ants, such as pavement ants and carpenter ants, are huge pests because they invade homes. Most people detest ants, but there’s a lot that can be done to help an infestation, like ant bait and ant killer.  

Do Ants Infiltrate Homes? 

While ants can play an important role in the outdoor ecosystem, their presence is not usually welcome within your home, but it’s unfortunately common. Ants often infiltrate homes, looking for food and shelter sources. One of the primary concerns with ants in the home is their ability to contaminate food. Once they find a food supply, they leave pheromones behind to signal the other colony members of their find. Before you know it, your pantry is an ant farm.

Additionally, certain species of ants, such as carpenter ants, can cause structural damage to homes. Carpenter ants excavate wood to build their nests, creating tunnels within the walls and beams of your home. This creates a safety hazard, so carpenter ant infestations must be handled immediately with an ant killer. 

Some ants, like fire ants, even bite and sting. Fire ants defend their nests aggressively, which you unfortunately know if you’ve ever encountered one. Their stings can cause pain and swelling and, in more extreme cases, allergic reactions. If you see fire ants in your home, grab the ant bait and ant killer as quickly as possible.  

Ant Killer For Your Home and Garden 

Getting rid of ants in your home starts with eliminating them in nature and attacking their colonies with ant killer. You can squish ants in your home all you want, but if you don’t address their root cause with ant killer, you won’t get anywhere. Liquid ant bait is a great option for beginners and professionals alike because it’s easy to use and extremely effective. 

Ant bait acts as just that – a bait to draw them in. It’s then poisonous via contact or ingestion, ensuring that no matter how the ants encounter it, they won’t survive. The idea of ant bait is that the ants think it’s food and signal their colony members to get some, too. Colony members are drawn to the ant bait, while the ant killer is simultaneously taken back by the workers to unknowingly infiltrate and extinguish the colony. 

Spinosad, the active ingredient in many natural ant killers, targets a lot of different ant species, but there are also specific ant baits for fire ants. It’s perfectly safe for kids and pets, so you can use this ant killer with the peace of mind that you won’t hurt anything aside from the ants. Liquid ant killer is also easy to use and is great for lush lawns, small gardens, and even large-scale farming operations. 

Ticks are Common Lawn Pests

Ticks are another dangerous insect that could be lurking within your lawn. Especially in wooded areas or thick, lush grasses, as ticks love to snuggle in and wait for their next meal. Unfortunately, for many animals and humans, that meal is blood. Ticks are classified not only as insects but also parasites, and they can be incredibly dangerous.   

Why Are Ticks Dangerous? 

Ticks are notoriously known for their blood-feeding habits, making them one of the most unpleasant and potentially harmful insects to find in one’s yard. Ticks serve as a food source for many birds, which can be great for native populations of beautiful Blue Jays and charming Cardinals. However, their presence is entirely annoying to humans. 

Ticks are a type of vector, which means they carry and transmit diseases. Some of the more well-known tick-borne illnesses are Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever, both of which cause significant health problems and can be detrimental. There are dozens of other tick-borne diseases that aren’t as widely known, such as Alpha-gal syndrome and Anaplasmosis. 

There are lots of preventative measures for minimizing your risk of tick encounters, such as: 

• Wearing long sleeves 
• Conducting regular tick checks
• Using tick killer 

All of these are effective methods, but using a tick killer is a tried-and-true method to keep ticks out of your yard and away from you, your family, and your pets. Tick killers can be incredibly safe and easy to use.  

Keeping Safe with Tick Killer

Remember all those pollinators that are beneficial insects to have around? When addressing a tick problem, it’s important to pick a tick killer that won’t harm those good bugs. Using tick killer is essential for protecting yourself, your family, and your pets from the risks associated with tick encounters. Tick killer products come in various forms, including sprays, powders, and other outdoor treatments. 

Our favorite type of tick killer is one that can be applied to a large area all at once, covering your yard and garden in one application. A tick killer spray is perfect for this because they usually come with an easy hose-sprayer nozzle. With a safe, concentrated formula, this tick killer can be used all over your property and also helps tackle mosquitos and fleas.  

Treating Pets for Ticks

If you’re using tick killer in your yard and have pets, it’s a good idea to treat them, too. Fortunately, there are tons of tick killer options for dogs and cats; just ask your veterinarian what they recommend. It’s important to use tick killer for your pets so that when you treat your yard, they’re not driven to your pets for shelter. 

Other Insect Control for Yards and Gardens

Your yard is likely home to hundreds more pesky insects. Aside from tick killer and ant bait, you may want general protection of your yard and garden, and an all-purpose insect control method can greatly benefit you. Some organic insecticides also serve as fungicides and can add valuable nutrients to the soil to help your plants thrive. 

For some of the unwelcome guests who like to snack on your plants, like slugs and snails, granular insect control can help deter them and make the infestation disappear in no time. ANTIXX Plus Granular Ant, Slug, and Snail Bait is approved for use in organic production and won’t harm your plants, family, or animals. Note that this product can kill lots of insect species but is not a tick killer.

Another irritating insect that everyone is familiar with: mosquitoes. Mosquitoes are also vectors and can carry diseases. However, most of these diseases exist primarily in other parts of the world and in the United States, they’re mainly just annoying. Mosquito control can be used all around your lawn and garden to get rid of them and allow you to enjoy time outdoors without nasty bites and buzzing in your ears.  

3 Ways to Apply Organic Insect Control 

Applying tick killer, ant bait, or any other form of insect control is simple and can be done by just about anyone. Whatever method you choose, the goal is to achieve an even application of tick killer and insecticides over all areas of your lawn or garden. If you miss a big spot, harmful insects can migrate there and overrun the area that doesn’t have protection.

Three of the most popular methods for applying organic insect control are: 

• Sprayers
• Irrigation
• Granular Applications

Sprayers Are Great for Smaller Operations

Sprayers have several varieties, ranging from handheld hose sprayers to large backpack-style sprayers. Each one has a different purpose and can be used with various liquid insect killers, as well as organic herbicides and fertilizers. 

Each product from Rocky Mountain BioAg® comes with all the directions you need to create the right concentrations for the highest efficacy, making it easy for beginners and professionals alike. 

Irrigation Systems for Farming

Irrigation is like spraying, but it’s designed for larger-scale applications. Typically, the desired product is loaded into a pump that distributes it into the water sprayers at an appropriate ratio. The concentration level can be very easily manipulated to achieve your desired results. Irrigation systems are most common in farming but can also benefit lawns in some circumstances.

Broadcasting and Banding with Granules

Granular application is simply taking the powder or granular form of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers and applying it directly to your soil. Banding and broadcasting are two common methods used. Banding is applying the granules in straight lines, or bands, to get a higher concentration of product. Broadcasting is applying granules over the entire area, ensuring each inch of soil is covered.  

Using the Natural Food Chain for Insect Control

One of the most interesting natural methods of insect control is to let nature run its course. The natural food web in your yard and garden may control harmful insect populations more than you think, but you must remain cognizant of the good species and let them live. 

Snakes are the perfect example of this because many people tend to kill snakes around their yard and don’t like to see them. Rest assured, because many types of green snakes, corn snakes, and rat snakes love to feast on insects. If you see a non-venomous snake in your yard, it’s best to let them be! They won’t hurt you and they provide surprising amounts of insect control. 

The same is true of squirrels. Some people don’t like squirrels roaming around their property, but they eat huge amounts of larvae and pupae of many different insect types, which means they eat them before they turn into a full-fledged infestation.  

Do Organic Insect Control Products Really Work? 

Choosing organic weed killer, pesticides, fertilizer, and insect control is the responsible choice for the earth, but it’s also effective. One of the primary advantages of using organic fertilizers, insect control, and other gardening products is that they provide solid, evidence-based results that can outperform their synthetic counterparts without causing damage elsewhere.  

Additionally, using organic insect control and gardening products helps to protect soil health and biodiversity. Toxic chemical-laden products often claim to enrich your soil nutrients but can actually deplete them over time, hurting the soil’s ability to support different types of plants. Synthetic products can also hurt microorganisms that have important duties in the life cycle of the surrounding plants and animals. Without those important micro-communities, the health of your garden could diminish.

Organic Pest Control Products are Better for the Environment

Finally, one of the biggest benefits of using organic insect control and other organic gardening products is that they reduce pollution. With no chemicals to run off into water sources, the groundwater stays clean and healthy for all life. By choosing organic products, you’re protecting your garden, yard, and Mother Nature.

Your Insect Control Methods

Whether you choose to utilize ant bait, tick killer, or any other type of insect control, Rocky Mountain BioAg® has you covered. As a steward of the land, you have the power to cultivate and support thriving ecosystems with your product choices. With these proven products, your insect problems will be a thing of the past, and a healthy, vibrant outdoor haven awaits you.