How to Get Rid of Bugs in Your Garden with IPM

Insects are both friends and foes. Chemicals that kill bugs can harm people, pets, environment, are expensive, and take time. Safely manage pests with Integrated Pest Management (IPM)—combining cultural, physical, biological, and chemical tools. Start with least toxic method, work through six steps.

Learn how to identify and treat 10 common garden pests.

Using IPM to Get Rid of Bugs

IPM levels, in order:

1. Establish acceptable pest levels.
2. Take preventive cultural measures.
3. Monitor pests.
4. Add physical controls.
5. Use biological controls.
6. Apply chemical controls.

Follow these steps per pest type until you reach the right control level.

Establish acceptable pest levels. What's your aphid tolerance? Some accept none; others tolerate minor damage. Leaf miners leave white squiggly lines—best control: pluck affected leaves.

Learn how to control aphids.

Explore ways to stop leaf miners.

Take preventive cultural measures. Cabbage loopers? Skip broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale for a season. Grasshoppers? Plant marigolds, calendula, sunflowers to attract robber flies that attack them.

Get rid of cabbage loopers.

Check out other ways to control grasshoppers.

Monitor pests. Watch for cucumber beetles or other target bugs. No point treating absent pests.

Figure out how to manage cucumber beetles.

Add physical controls. Japanese beetles or tomato hornworms? Knock into soapy water (wear gloves). Webworms (fall caterpillars making web nests in trees/shrubs): remove webbing with long-handled tool; birds eat exposed caterpillars.

Stop Japanese beetles.

Eliminate tomato hornworms.

Beat webworms.

Use biological controls. Sawflies respond to spinosad spray. Use "good bug" predators (beneficial nematodes—microscopic soil worms—for grubs).

Get sawflies under control.

Stop grubs.

Apply chemical controls. Last resort: insecticides. For squash bugs, IPM includes row covers, hand-picking, planting flowers to attract beneficials—but may still need carbaryl or permethrin.

Get rid of squash bugs.

If unsure, research the specific bug. Many natural, nontoxic controls exist.

Discover other nontoxic controls for garden pests.

Remember: bees, lady beetles, green lacewings, praying mantis are beneficial—you want them. Don't kill a bug just because it's a bug!

Learn other ways to stop garden pests.