It would be easy to say - 'Let's use one all purpose spray that would get all the little nasties'. In principle I suppose that sounds good, but in actual practice we tried DDT back in 1939 and recently discovered that not only did we kill all the bad bugs, but we also eliminated the good guys as well. So without belaboring the all too familiar point of one animal's interdependence on another in the natural balance and order of things which has become fairly commonplace, let us move on to our own personal responsibility in the overall scheme of things. First and foremost is the production, dissemination, acquisition and sale of healthy plants both foreign and domestic. The continued general good health begins when you set your plants into your landscape design in the best possible location and continue their care with the proper fertilization and hydration.
Unhealthy plants have the ability to send out distress signals that lure insects in for the kill.
Second is the establishment of good 'housekeeping' techniques in the garden. Attention to details, institution and implementation of a workable daily routine of inspection to determine if your plants show any damage or infestation, and the correct disposition of any contaminated plant materials that may contain the eggs of an entire future generation just looking for an opportunity to hatch. Third is the careful conscientious handling, proper application, combination and storage of pesticides by the gardener. It is important that the proper identification of an infestation is made before a proper specific pesticide can be selected. By reading the label carefully and asking questions of well-informed, educated, reliable professional sources when in doubt, the gardener ensures that he is acting in the best possible interest of the entire ecological chain of which he is an important and vital link.