Welcome to Landscape IPM

Landscape IPM was developed to introduce and familiarize users with the principles and practices of Integrated Pest Management in Texas.

The practice of chemical treatment as the sole means of controlling plant pests is no longer viable or acceptable.

The goal of IPM is not to to eradicate pests, but to eliminate pest problems by strengthening and stabilizing the landscape so that conditions are more favorable for plants than for pests.  This balance is achieved by employing a combination of practices to prevent or avoid pest problems rather than treating them once they occur. By using scouting and monitoring practices for pests that include insects and other arthropods, actions to suppress population levels can be made in a timely manner, using a combination of the most environmentally-friendly and cost-effective tactics available.

Emphasis is given to cultural (non-chemical tactics) and biological (biological control using predators, parasite and pathogens) methods of control.  Properly-applied chemical control methods are used only when justified, and then by choosing the least toxic methods.