There are also insects and other guys that are yard friendly.
* Lady bugs
* Birds
* Butterflies
My Organic yards very effectively discourage the diseases and the pests that so many of us try so hard to keep off our lawns.
And for serious, persistent insects, there are natural solutions
that will not hurt you or your soil.
The diseases and harmful insects that bother a yard are far more common, prevalent in a chemical yard. These harmful bacteria are able to easily cause diseases in your yards plant life and the plant eating insects feed on the easily digestible diseased and dead plants in soil conditions that chemicals create. Just like the lion will attack the weakest zebra in the herd, insects go after the weak and easy to digest diseased plant matter.
For the insects that do go after healthy grass and plants, we have safe, all natural insect repellant/killers that will send those bugs crying and running. If you are wondering how safe, they are so safe you can eat the ingredients (and probably do). No all natural concoction I create from my many organic lawn care books or products I buy will hurt you, your children, your pets or wildlife. In fact, many are great fertilizers, however they are far too expensive to use the quantities it would take to fertilize an entire yard.
Feed your soil properly, a well balanced diet of all the many major AND minor nutrients and the grass, plants, trees will take from the soil what they need and the soil will create conditions that will prevent most any disease, deter insects so they die or go elsewhere and attract beneficial insects that prey on the troublesome insects.Many years ago I had a phone conversation with a interested party. I explained this to the woman and she said something to the effect of "so you are promoting ladybugs?" "We have way to many of them already." I explained to her that at the moment the lady bugs were her lawns best friend at the time. I never got the chance to explain to her that with healthy soil, her plants will be healthier, the troublesome insects would either leave or starve, and the lady bugs would go with them as they will stay only where the is food. They are no dummies.
My guess is they were not actually lady bugs. In New England, at least, there is another bug that looks similar to the lady bug, but is quite harmful to plant life. Especially vegetable and flower gardens. Instead of the bright red coat with black spots, it is a dull orange with black spots.
It makes sense they were not lady bugs as beneficial insects like the lady bug do not like yards that are extremely poor in condition. Toxic soil and plants make for a poor environment for them. I feel bad for people that buy ladybugs for their yards at a hefty price, only to see them fly away to friendlier conditions.
It is truly amazing how wonderful a yard can be when one treats the source of the problem and how horrible it can be when one tries to merely treat a symptom. Not only for the enjoyment of your property, but the never ending and growing expense, often to watch things get worse and worse.
Here are a couple of examples. People annoyed by woodpeckers, want to kill the bird, thus leaving the worms, insects that the woodpecker is eating.
The second is cockroaches. Instead of using poisons, simply repair the leaky pipes that give them the water they need to survive in a home, apt.
THE POINT IS, GO FOR THE SOURCE, NOT THE SYMPTOM,
AND DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME, THEN ENJOY YOUR YARD!