Post Oak Park and Community Garden

Integrated Pest Management (IPM):

Cultural Controls: This helps your plants to be as healthy as possible so that they can withstand any pest pressure.

• Sow seeds and/or plant transplants in the soil at the right time for the plant and your climate. Air and soil temperatures are important for plants to establish properly and avoid becoming stressed.
• Make sure that you are planting the best plants for your area and microclimate. USDA Zones mean very little when it comes to plants; Kyle, TX is in Zone 9a along with areas in 15 states from the Seattle area all the way to parts of Florida. USDA Zones only inform what the average coldest temperate is. The type of soil, soil pH, hottest temperatures, humidity, amount of rain, and amount of sun can vary widely in areas with the same zone. Each plant has preferred requirements for all of these things, so pick ones that are destined to thrive in your garden. You can check with either NPSOT (Native Plant Society of Texas) or Hays County Master Gardeners for appropriate plants in your area. Make sure to use the binomial/scientific name when purchasing a plant. For example, there are many types of milkweed but not are native to your area.
• Place your plants in the best area (microclimate) in your garden. How much sun and shade a plant will get and at what time of day will determine whether your plant/s will thrive or not survive.
• Watering your plants. Every plant has their own watering requirements, this can also vary on outdoor temperatures and rain. When you do water, make sure your are watering the roots (water close to soil) and avoiding getting the leaves wet (not only can this can spread fungal and bacterial diseases to your plants it can also burn the leaves because the water droplets act like magnifying glasses on the leaves). Water deeply once per week to support root growth; roots go to where the water is and the more root structure you have, the better a plant is able to withstand drought and high temperatures. Another helpful way to keep soil moist is using ollas. They are buried terracotta pots that hold water and slow release it as the soil dries out. They have been used in gardening for thousands of years because they work!
• Drip irrigation and soaker hoses are the best methods to water because it gets water into the soil not the air. Sprinklers and hand held watering lose at least 50% of the water to evaporation. Additionally, it is best to not water during the heat of the day. Since Kyle has watering restrictions, Native Plants are terrific for utilizing in your landscape since many are drought tolerant and require very little watering once they have been established.
• Mulch, mulch, mulch! Once a plant has true leaves and it is at least tall enough to not have the bottom leaves touching the mulch, it is the perfect time to add landscape mulch on top of the soil. This keeps soil temperatures cooler (by up to 10 - 20^o F), helps the soil retain water, and prevents fungal/bacterial diseases from getting onto the plant's leaves when watering or when it rains. As a bonus, this will help prevent many weeds from germinating because it blocks the sun's rays from reaching their seeds.
• Follow instructions on seed packets and nursery tags for plant spacing. Keep in mind the plant's mature size (height and width) when landscaping whether its vegetables, herbs, trees, flowers, etc.
• Companion Planting is helpful in preventing pests on your plants. For example, marigolds planted next to your tomatoes can keep root knot nematodes away. Farmer's Almanac has information on this.
• Keep your lawn trimmed and weeds in check. Many pest insects will overwinter in unkept landscaping and snail/slugs love to hide during the heat of the day in tall grasses and weeds. Removing places for pests to hang out will reduce their numbers.
• Crop rotation will reduce the amount of pests in your garden. Pests have their own preferred list of plants so switching up the type of edible plant family (brassica, nightshade, etc.) or annual you grow in a particular area will reduce the pest population. Soil resting (having no plants in an area) is also helpful to allow the pests to move on or die off from your garden.
• Some plants benefit from being thinned out (looking at you tomatoes) to help create good air flow through the plant. This will help to prevent fungal diseases.
• Avoid mono-cropping (one type of plant), biodiversity is key to a healthy garden. Mimicking nature's diversity as much as possible in your garden helps to creates a balanced ecosystem that supports the beneficial insects and wildlife that will help control the pest populations.
• While it might be tempting to buy sick or unhealthy plants to "nurture them back to health" it can bring diseases and pests to your otherwise healthy garden that were not there before. Please do not buy plants that are not in good health.
• Soil Testing before using fertilizers is best practice. It will help to prevent an overabundance of one or more soil nutrients, there is such a thing as too much.
• Feed your soil, not your plants. Healthy soil is full of life (beneficial microbes, beneficial bacteria, and fungus), making the soil better able to retain water and plants need these living organisms to use the nutrients in the soil. Using synthetic fertilizers can starve these beneficial organisms and reduce their populations making it more difficult for plants to receive the nourishment they need. Blood meal (nitrogen), bone meal (phosphorous), seaweed/kelp emulsions (potassium) are great organic fertilizers. Adding compost to your soil once per year is also really beneficial.
• Utilize shade cloths (if needed) in the summer and frost cloths during frosts/freezes can help protect plants from temperature extremes.
• Check your garden daily an explosion in the number of pests usually does not happen over night. Keeping an eye your plants not only helps you to see what your garden might need (water, trimming, weeding, etc.), it also helps you to find eggs (usually on stalks and on the underside of leaves) and any pests. If you see pests, be patient and keep an eye on them, the beneficial predators will be along soon to take care of the pests for you. The goal is not to have a pest free garden but to have a balanced ecosystem that can control the number of pests for you. iNaturalist is a great app to help identify insects and their eggs.
• Remove any standing water on your property because this is where mosquitos breed and they only need about a bottle caps worth of standing water. After it rains, check your property for any places that water collects and remove those items when possible (buckets, empty flower pots, tarps, etc.). For places like birdbaths, you can create water movement with a solar powered fountain topper.
• Trap crops/preferred plants is an effective method to allow unwanted insects such as caterpillars that are eating your plants to co-exist in your garden. Lets be honest, we need butterflies and moths to pollinate our garden but we don't love it when they are chowing down on our plants. If you have a consistent pest every year, research what their preferred plant/s are and provide it for them. Native plants are great for this.

Mechanical Controls: Physical methods to remove pests.

• Hand pick (wear gloves) or use a hand vacuum to remove pests. Keeping the numbers of pests lower while waiting for the predatory insects to arrive can help save your plants and prevent pesticide use.
• Remove sick/dying and heavily infested plants will prevent the spread of pests and diseases to other plants. If a plant has a disease, put it immediately in the garbage can and do not let it touch the soil or other plants. Sterilize your garden tools after using them on any plants you think might have a fungal or bacterial disease with a solution of 10% bleach / 90% water.
• Using a strong blast of water on soft bodied pests like aphids not only removes them from the plants, it also kills them in the process.
• A physical barrier such as floating row cover can protect your plants from pests but it makes it much more difficult to care for your plants. It is hard to water, trim, and keep an eye on your plants if you cannot access them easily. Additionally, if you have a plant that needs pollinators to fruit (such as squash) then they will not be able to access the flowers.
• Pheromone traps attract insects of a particular species using lures. The physical attributes of the trap, for example glue, prevent them from escaping reducing the population of a pest over time. Placement and timing of trap use is very important to their success.

Biological Controls: Beneficial predator insects that help control the number of pests in your garden.

• Planting a biodiverse garden will help to attract and support beneficial insects and pollinators in your yard.
• You can purchase beneficial insects from your local nursery or online. Examples of this include ladybeetles, parasitic wasps, beneficial nematodes, lacewings, and praying mantids. However, they will not stick around if they do not have a food source and if you have the "food" for them, they will most likely come on their own. A rare exception to this is when a new pest introduced to an ecoregion.
• Beneficial insects include spiders too, they are very helpful in managing pests in the garden. Also, most moths are better pollinators than butterflies because they visit more plants and stay on them longer. However, most of them do this in the evening and nighttime so they get little recognition for their efforts. Enjoy caterpillars, most will be a future pollinator.

Pesticides: Avoid using pesticides whenever possible.This is the method of last resort.

• The potential harm to the pollinators and the beneficial predator insects that we need in the garden should make one pause and consider alternatives methods such as mechanical and biological controls. Once pesticides are used, it throws off the balance in your ecosystem and it can take time to reestablish that.
• Look back through the cultural controls and see if something could be improved. Healthy plants usually will not succumb to pest pressure and disease.
• If you must use pesticides, consider using ones that are more targeted to the pest you are dealing with. Indiscriminate (broad-spectrum) pesticides will kill many insects and are not ideal for maintaining the beneficial predator insects that you want to keep in your garden.
• One of the best targeted pesticides is BT (Bacillus Thuringiensis) There are many different strains of this naturally occurring soil bacteria and each one is used for a different pest. For example, BTi (israelensis) is great for managing mosquitos; BTi is also know as mosquito dunks or mosquito bits. You can add this to buckets (with a branch sticking out of the bucket for things like lizards or small mammals to get back out) or birdbaths. Keep in mind any standing water will attract mosquitos, so it is better to not have any; but if you do, keep it further away from where people hang out in your yard.
• Insecticidal soap works well on soft bodied insects such as aphids, whiteflies, and spider mites.
• Neem oil is another pesticide (and fungicide) to consider because it is derived from the neem tree making it safer for the environment. However, it is more indiscriminate and can kill beneficial and pollinator insects. If you must use neem oil, spray in the evening to avoid burning your leaves and avoid getting it on the flowers to protect any bees or other pollinators as much as possible.
• Some other pesticides used in organic gardening are diatomaceous earth, orange oil, boric acid (borax), and spinosad. Please follow application and use suggestions carefully to minimize harm. While pyrethrins are considered organic pesticides because they are derived from chrysanthemums, they are not recommended because they are a neurotoxin that does harm to many species of insects and some wildlife. Of great concern is the harm to beneficial insects such as monarch butterflies https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/01/monarch-butterflies-mass-die-off-pesticides but pyrethrins also harm fish and aquatic life if it runs off into streams and rivers.

Resources:

• Native Plant Society of Texas - Why Plant Native Plants?

• Native Plant Society of Texas - How To Create a Native Plant Garden

• Native Plant Society of Texas - Native Plant Database

• NICE - Native Plant Partners (where to buy Native Plants)

• Farmer's Almanac - When to Plant Vegetables/Herbs by Zip code

• Hays County Master Gardeners (this website has "Ask A Master Gardener" and many information sheets from Texas A&M Agrilife that people can use to help with gardening)

• Mosquito Bucket Challenge - reducing mosquito population safely

• iNaturalist - to identify plants, insects, and insect eggs