Insects thrive in more environments than any other group of animals. They live on the earth’s surface, within the soil, and in water. They compete very successfully with humans for the choicest plants and cause damage to an extremely wide variety of ornamental plants.
Insects damage ornamental plants in the following ways: they feed on and into leaves, fruit, and seeds; they tunnel or bore into stems, stalks, branches, roots, and trunks; they suck the sap from leaves, stems, roots, fruits, and flowers and they transmit plant disease agents.
The most common signs of insect infestation are leaves curled, puckered, and distorted; leaves with large ragged holes, skeletonized or wilted; hollowed stems and woody plants with trails under bark; fruits or plants spotted and frothy; dimpled and distorted fruits and berries; trees with excavated cavities and processed wood with small holes and fresh sawdust.
We follow Integrated Pest Management (IPM) tactics, an effective and environmentally sensitive approach to insect management that relies on a combination of practices. IPM programs use current, comprehensive information on insects’ life cycles, habits, and their interaction with the environment. This information, in combination with available control methods, is used to manage insect damage by the most economical means and with the least possible hazard to non-target organisms and the environment.