Beyond Pesticides, is a non-profit organization with the mission of identifying the risks of conventional pest management practices and promoting non-chemical and least-hazardous management alternatives. Their website includes a great number and wide variety of fact sheets on alternative pest management in the garden and home.
Tool or Gardening Product
Mosquito Dunks and Barley Straw
Landscape ponds and water features in the garden bring great pleasure, but they can also bring problems, such as mosquitoes and algae. Fortunately, there are safe, natural ways to control these problems. Mosquito Dunks float on the water and slowly release a long-term, biological mosquito larvicide (Bt, or Bacillus thuringiensis) at the water's surface. This gradually settles in the water, where it is eaten by mosquito larvae growing there. Each dunk kills mosquito larvae for 30 days or more and are safe to use around pets and children. For algae, we can turn to barley straw, which increases the beneficial bacteria that help control algal growth. Barley straw products are available in various forms and quantities at garden centers, as are the mosquito dunks.