Pest Management  Diagnosis		Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Let's face it, insects and plant diseases are ever present in our environment. To eliminate them is to fight a losing battle. Managing them at low levels, however, is a practical and feasible alternative. The goal of IPM is to reduce pest populations to less than damaging numbers, not to eliminate all pests. In fact some pests are tolerable and essential so that their natural enemies remain. The presence of insects and disease on your trees and shrubs is more often a result of some other problem affecting your plants which is making them vulnerable to attack. In most situations, healthy, vigorous, well maintained plants are resistant to outbreaks of insects and disease. Although some pests (many non-native) attack healthy plants, it is more the exception than the rule. Many factors influence the presence of disease and pests in your landscape: Host/target species Site conditions Environmental stress, such as drought
	Hemlock Pest Alert If you have hemlocks be sure to Download our fact sheet on the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid and how to prevent this pest from killing your beloved hemlocks.

	Did You Know? The majority of tree health problems are not directly caused by insects, mites, fungi or bacteria. Rather, 70 to 90% of all problems result from adverse cultural and environmental conditions like soil compaction, drought, mechanical injuries, or poor species selection. These factors work together, making a tree susceptible to attack by insects, mites, fungi or bacteria.		Host/target species Site conditions Past pruning practices Current plant health Environmental stress, such as drought History of pesticide use Most of these factors can be influenced to reduce pest presence through non-chemical means. For example, several diseases of cherry and dogwood, can be controlled by simply raking infected leaves and disposing of them off-site. Management of insect pests and disease rarely relies on a single control practice. Tactics used in integrated pest management include the use of pest resistant or tolerant plants and cultural, physical, mechanical, biological, and chemical control. Applying multiple control tactics minimizes the chance that insects will adapt to any one tactic. Total Tree Heath Care's Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program includes a variety of management techniques to keep your plants healthy and vigorous, and thus more resistant to pests and diseases, as well as the use of chemical control when necessary. In general, applying fewer chemicals on your trees and shrubs makes your landscape safer for your family and the environment. Sometimes, however, the use of pesticides is the best option for controlling a disease or pest problem. We incorporate safe, alternative chemical control methods into our IPM program. For example, our recovery treatments of hemlocks with a new soil-injectible pesticide called Merit® have been instrumental in saving hundreds of hemlocks in the New River Valley. Merit® injections eliminate exposure to your family and non-target wildlife, unlike sprays that drift and kill non-target species. Insect and Disease Diagnosis Suspect a problem but don't know what it is? Call us at 540-552-3037 or send an email. We will come out and look at it. If we can't tell you what it is on the spot, we will send samples to the Cooperative Extension office for positive ID. Then, we will report back to you with positive identification and recommendations for control.
	Why Not Spray? Simply spraying to control an insect problem may get rid of the insect, but usually does not address the underlying problem. Through practices that promote healthy plants, we can help reduce the number of problems your trees and shrubs might otherwise experience.

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Total Tree Health Care • 486 Lovely Mount Drive • Radford, VA 24141-5920 • 540-552-3037 • treehelp@msn.com