There are many diseases and insects that can infect a tree and its health. We can identify a disease, illness, or a problem and if warranted, take corrective action through Plant Health Care (PHC). PHC is a comprehensive program to manage the health, structure, and appearance of trees. With PHC comes Integrated Pest Management (IPM), which is an essential component of the PHC management system. The goal of IPM is to manage pests and diseases and their damage at levels tolerable to the client.

Monitoring is a critical component of landscape IPM. Site information is valuable for diagnosis and treatment of landscape pest problem. There are several ways in which to manage pests in the landscape. These include:

Cultural practices – create favorable plant development conditions through treatments such as mulching, irrigation, fertilization, and pruning. Landscape sanitation is also an important cultural practice for preventing pest problems. Excessive buildup of plant litter (leaves, grass clippings, etc.) provides breeding, refuge, and overwintering sites for certain pests.

Plant selection – always encourage clients to use pest-resistant plant species, high-quality nursery stock, and a diversity of plant species. Proper plant selection and placement is important to pest prevention and can considerably reduce the need for control tactics.

Cultural control – entail either physical manipulation of the landscape or the use of mechanical devices to alter pest activity, reproduction, or survival. Pruning is an effective cultural control tactic for plant pests. Localized pest infestations on landscape plants can be controlled by removing and destroying infested portions of the plant.

Biological control – a method for managing landscape pests using natural enemies – predators, parasites, and pathogens.

Chemical control – chemical control tactics use pesticides for landscape pest control. Commonly used pesticides include insecticides, miticides, fungicides, bactericides, and herbicides.

We work closely with our IPM company to create a PHC program to help reduce diseases and pests found commonly around the area.