DIY Saturday #51 Outdoor Pest Control Tips for the DIY’er (Video)

Guest Blog #79, Entry #529, May 21, 2011

Happy DIY Saturday! As we continue through May, we have focused on DIY projects to help your outdoor home, and lawn and garden areas. Today the emphasis is on pests. Yes, no one likes to think about pests, but they can wreak havoc on your lawn and plants, and cause all of your hard earned work to go down the drain!

Keep your lawn looking it’s best and pest-free

Today we feature a You Tube video for using natural sources for pest control and our Guest Blogger, shows you how to choose the appropriate herbicides for your home.  Depending on your home, the type of pests and your treatment preferences can help you decide which is best for you.

How to decide which Herbicides to use for your home:

Herbicides are one of the most widely used products in the US to control pests in agricultural and turf management. In fact, roughly 70% of pesticides used in the US are herbicides.

Most herbicides are water-based chemicals that are applied using ground equipment. There are many different kinds of machines that are used to apply herbicides on the ground; some are even driven by horses!

There are also herbicides that can be applied via airplane or helicopters. These are generally the synthetic-based herbicides. Aerial application is very effective and one of the fastest ways to apply herbicides, particularly over larger areas.

There are some newer methods immerging that actually do a more thorough job at killing the weeds. They will go deeper into the soil and destroy the root source of the weed. This provides longer protection against weeds, which results in lower costs to farmers, and less risk for consumers who buy the products.

Determine what type of pest control youw ant for your home

In terms of risk, while some herbicides have been known to fairly very risk-free, and are even approved by the EPA, some herbicide products still remain relatively unknown in their potential risk factor. There has been a significant amount of discussion, disagreement, and even argument on the use of certain herbicides and pesticides.

One such product that was believed to promote cancer is called phenoxy. Despite the debate, however, there was not enough data to assess whether or not is was actually cancer-causing. Scientists are actively monitoring the use of herbicides and working to ensure that consumers are not purchasing products that are treated with chemicals that may cause harmful disturbances, such as cancer.

One of the first majorly used herbicides was introduced in the 1940s by the Sherwin-Williams Paint Company. It is called 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid. Try spelling that without looking. Try pronouncing it for that matter! Anyway, they made a killing on this stuff. It was very cheap for them to manufacture and it did a good job at killing most broadleaf plants and it didn’t harm the grasses much.

Because 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid was so inexpensive, and effective, it is still one of the most popular choices for weed control today.

Keep your garden free of pests in your vegetable garden

There are many other great products that have been around awhile and are still making their mark. One is called Glyphosate. This product is for more general weed-killing use, since it is non-selective, which means that it pretty much just kills everything it touches. This also means that you probably don’t want to use it on your lawn. Glyphosate is more commonly known as Roundup. However, you can buy Glyphosate by itself and don’t have to use the expensive brand Roundup.

While many things are still unknown about herbicides, we can conclude that they are proving to be effective for farmers who are trying to maintain their harvest. It’s important that we understand the risks associated with the use of herbicides on our food, however.

If you would like to learn more about herbicides and how you can use professional grade products around your home, please visit DoMyOwnPestControl.com.

For more DIY ideas on Stagetecture, & Stagetecture’s YouTube Channel, click here.