Healthy garden care

You can have a beautiful lawn and garden using natural methods.

For lawn care and maintenance:

• mow grass 2-3 inches high with a sharp blade
• aerate spring and fall
• water early morning, one inch, generally once per week
• fertilize with natural fertilizers spring and fall
• top dress and overseed in early spring and late fall

Insects are a natural part of lawns and many beneficial insects help maintain your lawn, pollinate plants and control harmful pests.

Regularly inspect your garden for signs of insect infestation. Ask a lawn and garden expert, garden centre or landscape company for advice.

Native plants are naturally suited for the conditions in your garden and can better resist pests.

Poisonous plants and stinging pests

Certain pesticides, which include chemicals such as glyphosate or glufosinate ammonium, are called controlled sale pesticide products.

These products are found in ready-to-use containers, and may be used for specific purposes according to their label around homes or cottages to control:

• poison ivy
• wild parsnip
• giant hogweed
• outdoor biting or stinging pests (mosquitoes, wasps)
• pests that can cause structural damage to the home (termites)
• rodents that can carry disease

These products may not be used to control:

• weeds or other vegetation in lawns, gardens, patios or driveways
• lawn or garden pests

Under provincial pesticide legislation, a pesticide must be registered under the Pest Control Products Act administered by Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency and classified for legal sale and use in Ontario.

Products must be used according to label directions and for purposes allowed under the ban.

Lower risk pesticides and biopesticides

You can purchase and use certain lower risk pesticides and biopesticides to manage weeds, insects and plant diseases.

Biopesticides are designated by Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency.

Lower risk pesticides have characteristics such as:

• low toxicity to humans
• minimal impact to the environment
• act in a non-toxic way in controlling intended pests

A List of Active Ingredients Authorized for Cosmetic Uses (Allowable List) was created so you know what products you can and can’t use.

Using biopesticides

Some biopesticide products (e.g. Bacillus thuringiensis, Phoma macrostoma) are living organisms that can be very sensitive to environmental conditions such as sunlight, rain, humidity or temperature. Beneficial nematodes are also live organisms. One of the best quality and natural pest control products is buzzbgone.

You will increase their effectiveness if you apply biopesticides and nematodes when the environmental conditions are most suitable for their survival.

For example, nematodes are extremely sensitive to sunlight, moisture and temperature and should be applied:

• in cloudy conditions
• to moist soil which is watered 24 hours after application
• when soil temperatures are above 11°C

Many biopesticides:

• work best against younger stages of insect growth
• may not be as effective applied against older stages
• require direct contact with the pest to be effective