VC Star
By David Goldstein
March 20th
Are you bugged by bugs, but want to avoid poison in your garden that could harm your pets or kids? Do you want to stop pests from entering your home and weeds from competing with your vegetable plants, while protecting critical pollinators?
UC Master Gardeners of Ventura County can help you practice Integrated Pest Management (IPM), an approach to controlling weeds and pests, based on using the least toxic approaches that are still effective. As a program of the University of California, master gardeners teach free classes, maintain 10 demonstration gardens and administer many programs described on their website (ceventura.ucanr.edu/Gardening/) but the most basic, one-on-one form of assistance they provide is through the master gardener help desk. The help used to be accessed by phone, but now, assistance is provided through email.
According to Jill Tyler, program coordinator, 175 highly trained volunteers meet annual obligations of at least 25 service hours and 12 continuing education hours per year to remain certified as master gardeners, and some have volunteered thousands of hours. They consult with local residents on a variety of topics, but always with an emphasis on minimizing the use of harmful pesticides and herbicides. For example, if you email mgventura@ucdavis.edu a picture of something you think is a weed, a master gardener will reply with an identification of the plant and least toxic control methods. For pests, I once complained to the master gardeners help desk about snails attacking the plants of my raised beds, and the advice I received was correct. The snails were stopped by a strip of copper, purchased from my local gardening store.
The General Services Agency, which helps with irrigation for the habitat, also champions IPM. Crews have been using only non-toxic methods of weed removal at county government buildings for over six years, according to Patrick Squires, the agency’s manager of housekeeping and grounds.
The agency’s Parks Department has also transitioned to IPM over the past few years. For example, following a misapplication of herbicide, tragically resulting in tree deaths at Soule Park two years ago, the Parks Department switched to manual weed removal, including use of string trimmers, with labor provided by the Probation Department.
Sometimes, fighting one type of pest requires targeting another. For example, when mealy bugs were found devouring vulnerable plants at a Public Works habitat restoration site, the IPM answer was to target ants, which “farm” the mealy bugs. Crews used boric acid bait in stations inaccessible to bees or butterflies. The acid is toxic to the ants but unlikely to harm other species.
Reservations are available for the following classes taught by Master Gardeners of Ventura County, which include IPM instruction: Beans and squash success (March 20, Simi Valley), planning for spring and summer (March 20, Oxnard) and Start your summer vegetable garden (March 22, Ojai and March 25, Santa Paula. Sign up for classes at ucanr.edu/sites/VCMG/index.cfm
David Goldstein, an Environmental Resource Analyst with the Ventura County Public Works Agency, may be reached at 805-658-4312 or david.goldstein@ventura.org
