HORTICULTURE AND INSECTS

I HAVE TO DECLARE, insects are my favorite subject, after plants, in nature wide scheme of things. I think that if there are no are no insects of any kind in your garden, you suck. Beneficial or the others. You should have a wide variety of vegetation species, the more the merrier, to avoid pests. However, soil,
humidity and heat will increase the possibility of infestation during the rainy/hot season.

If you have hedges and row after row of the same plants and bushes, good luck. On this asphalt/concrete isle that seems to be the rule. For a nice change of step an excerpt about entomology, that some may enjoy. Houghton Mifflin Company,
NY, 1970.

INSECTS
BY
Donald J. Borror
Richard E. White

"ENTOMOGISTS fall into two categories: those who find insects endlessly fascinating and those
would get rid of them. Those in the first group, likely as not, begin as obsessive butterfly collectors and never quite lose their sense of wonder about the six legged world. Those who would get rid of insects are afflicted with an impulse to drop bricks on beetles and all other small crawly companies, devising more sophisticated techniques of annhilation.

Seriously, insects, because of their astronomical number, are undeniably important in our lives. They cannot be ignored. Many are "beneficial"; others, in human terms are obviously harmful.
There is much talk about the damage they do. However, if we evaluate insects across the board
according to the measure of our economy, we find that they fall on the credit side of the ledger.
The authors of this book point out that whereas damage by insects in the United States has been
estimated to run into huge sums annually, their pollinating services alone each year are probably worth considerably more than the damage costs.

So then, indiscriminate eradication is out. Some control is necessary, but we deplore the unscientific spraying that eliminates defoliator and pollinator alike; we resent the primitive methods that kill not only the noxious insects but also their natural controls, the predators and parasites. We regret the decline of attractive butterflies along the roadsides and in our gardens.
Particularly upsetting is the widespread use of persistent chemicals, such as the chlorinated hydrocarbons, which poison the ecosystem and travel through the food chain until even bald eagles, ospreys, and peregrine falcons are lethally affected."

Now, if you practice horticulture, keep this in mind. If you pay to some uncertified lanscape
maintenance company/ individual, watch them, ask about anything sprayed on your property. Even better, get a copy of the chemical components and instructions. They come in English or Spanish in many cases. Do not be a fool trusting your health, children and mascots to some jerk as one may find down here. The environment will thank you.