Key things to know about IPM
IPM relies on common sense practices to manage pests to "acceptable levels." This could mean a few weeds in your lawn where they can be tolerated, while eradication may be the goal when dealing with pests inside your home.
Here are some key components of this sustainable approach:
- It applies to all pests, including lawn disease, weeds, and those things we call "bugs" but are actually arthropods (everything from insects [e.g. ants, flies, fleas, etc.] to spiders, mites, pill bugs/sow bugs, millipedes, and centipedes).
- It's effective because it takes a proactive approach to pest problems.
- It combines a variety of methods to manage pests. Here is a quick breakdown of what we mean:
- Cultural: Daily or weekly practices you can follow to prevent and discourage pest presence and infestations.
- Physical/Mechanical: Controlling pests by means of physical removal or utilizing mechanical devices (e.g. vacuums, traps).
- Biological: Encouraging or introducing beneficial organisms that can help manage pest populations.
- Chemical: Using pesticides to control pests in the home or yard, often as a last resort.
Sunday Funday Fact: IPM was established in the 1970s in response to the overuse of pesticides that led to insecticide resistance in agricultural pests and negative environmental effects. Scientists recognized a need to revisit cultural, mechanical/physical, and biological control measures to deal with pests, combined with chemical controls.
Wait, wait—what is a "pest"?
In the simplest of terms, a pest is an organism in the "wrong place." In the realm of IPM, a pest can refer to lawn diseases, weeds, or arthropods. In fact, any organism perceived as unwanted in a particular setting can be called a pest. (Turns out you used that term correctly on your sibling growing up after all!) What else is a pest:
- An organism that competes with humans for materials, space, or food.
- An organism that carries diseases to humans, animals, crops, or landscape plants.
- Disease organisms themselves!
Benefits of IPM
First and foremost, IPM reduces or eliminates the use of pesticides. That's great for all of us, including the environment. But beyond that? It works. That's a major benefit in our book.
How Integrated Pest Management works
IPM is most effective when you are actively monitoring for pest presence, accurately identifying them, and evaluating their population size. This allows you to make the most informed and appropriate decisions to manage and prevent pest problems. Once the pest and infestation level has been evaluated, the next phase of IPM involves the implementation of biological, cultural, physical/mechanical, and chemical control tactics.
The integration of all four approaches to pest management is applied in a way that minimizes environmental and human health risks. Finally, what makes IPM, well, IPM, is the evaluation of your entire process. Take inventory of what worked, what didn’t, and make adjustments. To keep it easy, we’ve devised a 5-step approach to IPM for you and your family. Here are a few tips to get you started:
Take preventive action by removing sources of food, water, shelter, living and recreational space, and preferred habitat for pests.
Cultural control. This includes good lawn hygiene (feed the grass, mow high, water right, overseed, and manage weeds) and maintaining high levels of cleanliness and sanitation around your home and yard:
- Ensure any lids to food storage, compost or trash are tightly fitted.
- Clean dining, food storage, trash, and compost areas thoroughly.
- Pick up any junk, piles of debris (fallen sticks), and piles of plant vegetation across your lawn.
- Ensure any lids to food storage, compost or trash are tightly fitted.
- Clean dining, food storage, trash, and compost areas thoroughly.
- Pick up any junk, piles of debris (fallen sticks), and piles of plant vegetation across your lawn.
Physical and mechanical control:
- Reduce outdoor hiding spots, like woodpiles and debris in the yard.
- Reduce indoor hiding spots, like clutter and junk.
- Remove areas of stagnant water and dump any standing water.
- Plant landscape plants in the right places and plant more resilient, native plants wherever possible.
Biological control:
- Encourage the presence of predatory insects like bees and dragonflies to frequent your backyard through strategic and native plantings.
- Adopt a homeopathic approach to deterring pests by introducing plants with benefits.
Identify your pest
Determine what you’re dealing with. Is it indoors or outdoors? Is it seasonal or year-round? Is it a regional pest or located nationwide? And probably, most importantly, what level of harm or damage can this pest cause? Here are some of our top suggestions for pest ID guides:
Lawn diseases/weeds:
Insects/rodents:
Remove or reduce populations
A bit more labor-intensive than the previous step, this is where you have identified pest presence and need to remove or reduce the population. Here are a few tips to get you started:
Lawn diseases/weeds:
- Upkeep proper irrigation, fertilization, mowing, and soil management
- Grow the right grass for your climate and region
- Overseed and patch bare spots in the lawn
Arthropods/rodents:
- Clean out gutters and piles of debris around the perimeter of your home
- Vacuum within your home, and sweep home, garage or yard
- Setting ant traps, sticky traps and setting up barriers like window screens.
Chemical control
At Sunday, we recommend only reaching for chemicals to solve a pest issue in your home and yard when absolutely necessary. If you must reach for chemicals, we recommend utilizing products that take into consideration the health of you, your family, and the environment:
Sunday weed control
Sunday insect control
Sunday Tip:
Pesticides are anything listed as a toxicant, repellent, feeding deterrent, growth regulator/inhibitor, or pheromone. So, yes, Sunday products are pesticides, but we strive to utilize the least harmful ingredients. Many of our products are made with essential oils or compounds produced by natural processes. You can limit the use of harmful chemicals in your home or yard by selecting products that are natural (compared to synthetically derived pesticides).
Evaluate and adjust (if needed)
Is your IPM approach working? If not, you should start by evaluating your current practices and see where there may be weaknesses. You can and should always change up, introduce new practices and improve current practices where you are able.
Sunday Tip:
Fair warning: Your IPM approach likely won’t follow the exact same protocol every time. Each pest is different and every situation is unique to your region, your yard or home, and the level of pest issues.
A final word on effective pest management
Although IPM is a proactive approach that can help prevent pest issues, it is not a single-use, short-term effort. Rather, it’s a series of actions for pest management of arthropods (insects and insect-like things), weeds, and diseases that hinge on evaluation, decisions, and controls. For more specific information on the main types of Integrated Pest Management you’ll face as a homeowner, check out our other IPM resources:
Cited sources
Cornell CALS. New York State Integrated Pest Management. Cornell University UC IPM.
What Is Integrated Pest Management?. UCANR. Penn State Extension.
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Tactics. Penn State University.
Frank, S. et al. Integrated Pest Management (IPM). NC State Extension.
