Managing pests at The Butchart Gardens

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a decision making process using a combination of pest management techniques to suppress pest populations in effective, environmentally sound ways. Cultural, mechanical, biological and chemical controls are all used to help manage pest problems both preventatively and through intervention when necessary. IPM also involves creating healthier plants through better growing practices and monitoring those plants regularly for problems so the problems can be correctly identified and dealt with in a timely manner.
The Butchart Gardens have had an IPM program in place in the production greenhouses for over 15 years and have been actively implementing this program for the past 7 years in their outdoor garden areas. One of our main goals has been to improve soil management program and this has been achieved by regular soil testing, amending of soils and using more specific fertilization throughout the gardens to try and obtain optimal growing conditions. The majority of the fertilizers used in the garden is either fully organic or organic based and The Butchart Gardens goal is to be completely organic. They have spent a lot of time properly spacing plants to allow sufficient airflow and light, and have removed plants with a history of being pest or problem plagued. Improvements to water quality are currently being analyzed to see where adjustments can be made to benefit plant health. These cultural practices along with the introduction of more biological controls have helped to dramatically reduce The Butchart Gardens dependency on chemical pesticides.

Biological Control uses natural enemies to control pests and diseases. Some examples are:

• Aphid control achieved by releasing aphid eating ladybugs
• Fungal control by spraying with a fungus that attacks the pest fungus
• Applying Neem oil extracted from the seeds of the Indian Neem tree; this helps to control high numbers of pest species before we release natural predators
• Releasing predatory mites to control pests such as spider mite, thrips and whitefly

A typical year of pest management involves winter and early spring applications of Dormant Oil/Lime Sulphur to smother egg masses and prevent fungal diseases from taking hold. A natural bacterium called BtK is used to specifically control leaf eating caterpillars. Slugs are now dealt with using an iron based product that is safe to all other living creatures and is a beneficial amendment to the soil. Preventative releases of predatory bugs are carried out as required throughout the spring and summer in areas of early pest activity. The majority of the predatory bugs that are released are naturally occurring in the surrounding area and what The Butchart Gardens are doing is simply increasing the population to balance the needs in their garden. If weather conditions are favourable for disease outbreaks, they monitor and apply control measures only as necessary. One of the new programs that is currently under evaluation is the benefit of compost tea, which is being tested in three specific garden areas.

Within the gardens proper, all weed control is done manually without the use of herbicides. In  parking areas and roadways The Butchart Gardens have experimented with the use of steam and other mechanical methods as alternatives to using herbicides. This is an ongoing program they continue to work on to try and find a viable solution.

The Butchart Gardens goal is to create the healthiest environment for their plants, their staff and for their millions of visitors. They continue to strive to eliminate any unnecessary use of chemical pesticides by not using any products that may negatively effect anything other than the intended pest or disease.

For more information visit www.butchartgardens.com or to see all The Butchart Gardens Environmental Initiatives click here