Your Lawn Loves A Good Lather

Many homeowners are very reluctant to use any of the various pesticide products available at most lawn and garden centers. Although there are some new “supposedly” safer products on the market - one example being the insecticidal soaps - most pesticides are by their very nature toxic. And they are toxic not only for the intended target, but often they are toxic to people, pets, and other animals not intentionally targeted. Unintentional targets may include birds, fish, and beneficial insects.

My personal feeling with regard to these toxic pesticides is that if a homeowner can get by without using them or find a way of using anything less toxic then that’s a better way to go. There was a time when DDT was hailed as the best thing to ever come along for battling a wide variety of destructive insects. And then later it was realized that DDT had long term harmful side effects all through the environment, particularly with birds. DDT was removed from the market and replaced with another chemical that was considered safe. Again, some time later, it was found not to be safe and it too was removed. Some of the common pesticides used today (including diazinon, 2,4-D and dozens of others) are labeled as being safe - if used properly. I wonder which pesticide will be pulled off the market next. I guess what I’m asking here is that if you can kill a fly with a fly swatter why use a sledgehammer?

One of my own personal favorite pesticides is called liquid dish soap. Another is rubbing alcohol. And a third is ammonia. I have used all of these at one time or another - either by themselves or in different combinations - in my own yard. For example, liquid dish soap does not sit well in the digestive tracts of insects that may be chewing on your grass or chewing on its roots. Dish soap is very inexpensive, it makes insects very sick, and it is non-toxic. So the next time you find undesirable insects in your lawn, consider using one cup of dish soap mixed with three cups of water in a hose-end sprayer to treat your lawn. If you are going to try this as an insect control, I suggest doing so when your lawn will not be receiving any water or rain for several days. That way the residual of soap will remain on your lawn for a while instead of being rinsed off too soon. The idea here is to give the insects plenty of time to “enjoy” the soap. This simple recipe probably won’t actually cover your lawn with suds or lather, but there will be enough residue covering the blades of grass to affect chewing insects.

If you would like to get away from the use of highly toxic lawn and garden chemicals, you may want to consider reading some of the lawn and garden recipes put out by Master Gardener Jerry Baker. Although I am not an avid fan of Jerry Baker, I do believe he offers a breath of fresh air when it comes to remedies for the lawn and garden. You can always use your favorite browser to do a search on “Jerry Baker recipes” or “Safer lawn and garden chemicals”.

NEXT TIME: One Indicator That You May Have An Insect Problem In Your Lawn