A Green Industry Professional’s Guide to Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is designed to help green industry personnel understand IPM and to aid in implementing a pest control plan. This guide is limited to landscape pests; it does not pertain to structural pests or pests of agricultural crops. This publication does not contain all the information necessary to identify and control pests. Wherever possible, the reader will be referred to additional websites for further information.

What Is IPM?

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a sustainable approach to managing pests by combining cultural, physical, biological and chemical tools in a way that minimizes economic, health and environmental risks.

IPM is the strategic use of multiple strategies to control pests. Often, our first impulse is to apply a pesticide at the first sign of a problem. IPM helps develop a pest control plan that can prevent or limit pest problems in the future. IPM control strategies are commonly shown as a pyramid. The major emphasis is on the base of the pyramid, preventing pest problems, and the use of chemical controls is limited to situations where it is really needed. IPM is not a no-pesticides approach to pest management. IPM control plans consider all available methods to control pests.

What Are Pests?

Pests are organisms that damage or interfere with crops, ornamental landscape plants, homes, structures or wildlands.

  • Landscape pests can be divided into four groups: weeds, insects, plant diseases and wildlife. Below is a list of websites that will help identify pests and provide further information.
  • Managed by Extension, this site contains information on IPM, including photo galleries of noxious and nuisance weeds, pest insects, beneficial insects and exotic insects.
  • Nevada Department of Agriculture plant industry site, with links to the entomology, noxious weeds, and plant pathology departments. For wildlife problems, the link is http://agri.nv.gov/Resource_Protection/.
  • University of California statewide IPM programs website with home, landscape and agricultural pests. It has a weed gallery, exotic and invasive pest information, and a beneficial insects gallery.
  • Prevention and control of wildlife damage handbook. This site was funded by the National IPM Network and USDA - CSREES.
  • The Nevada Pesticide Education site is managed by University of Nevada Cooperative Extension to educate certified pesticide applicators in pesticide safety.

Weeds

The term “weed” refers to a plant growing where it is not wanted. Among weeds, there are some important distinctions. Noxious weeds are weeds designated by the state as requiring control. Nuisance weeds are weeds that have not been designated as noxious, but occur commonly in our area. Weeds are plants that are:

  • Competitive: They grow well in spite of interference from other plants.
  • Persistent: They will return year after year. They reproduce vigorously and spread seeds effectively.
  • Harmful: They may be harmful to native plants, livestock and wildlife, and to the environment in general.

Weeds can be subdivided in several ways. A common way to subdivide weeds is by class: Dicots versus Monocots. Dicots have two seed leaves and are also called broadleaf weeds. Monocots have one seed leaf; these are grasses, sedges and rushes. Dicots commonly have a coarse taproot and net-like leaf veins. Monocots commonly have fibrous roots and parallel leaf veins. Understanding the class of the weed you wish to control becomes important when you choose to use chemical control. Some herbicides are grass-selective (kill monocot plants), and some are broadleaf-selective (kill dicot plants). There are also nonselective herbicides that will kill all plants.

For the complete 44 page document use the link below to download the PDF version.

Hefner, M., Kratsch, H. 2017, Green Industry Professional’s Guide to Integrated Pest Management (IPM), University of Nevada Cooperative Extension SP-17-14

Extension Associated Contacts

 

Also of Interest:

 
Structural diversity, biosynthesis, and function of plant falcarin-type polyacetylenic lipids Santos, P., Busta, L., Yim, W. C., Cahoon, E., Kosma, D. 2022, Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol. 73, No. 9 pp. 2889–2904
yarrow
Groundcover Plants for Southern Nevada: Viable Alternatives to Turfgrass
Groundcover plants are essential for keeping southern Nevada cool. While many desert residents are removing turfgrass to reduce water use, they should consider replacing it with the attractive, drought tolerant alternatives discussed in this publication.
McGue, L., Robinson, M.L., O'Callaghan, A.O. and Leas, L. 2021, Extension, University of Nevada, Reno, FS-21-93
Photo of mayweed chamomile plant with white flower
Nevada Noxious Weed Field Guide – Mayweed chamomile
Mayweed chamomile is a noxious weed that has been identified by the state of Nevada to be harmful to agriculture, the general public, or the environment. Learn more about this weed.
Blecker, L., Creech, E., Dick, J., Gephart, S., Hefner, M., Kratsch, H., Moe, A., Schultz, B. 2021, Extension, University of Nevada, Reno, Field Guide
African rue flower
Nevada Noxious Weed Field Guide – African rue
African rue is a noxious weed that has been identified by the state of Nevada to be harmful to agriculture, the general public, or the environment. Learn more about this weed.
Blecker, L., Creech, E., Dick, J., Gephart, S., Hefner, M., Kratsch, H., Moe, A., Schultz, B. 2020, Extension, University of Nevada, Reno, Field Guide
Barbed goatgrass
Nevada Noxious Weed Field Guide – Barbed goatgrass
Barbed goatgrass is a noxious weed that has been identified by the state of Nevada to be harmful to agriculture, the general public, or the environment. Learn more about this weed.
Blecker, L., Creech, E., Dick, J., Gephart, S., Hefner, M., Kratsch, H., Moe, A., Schultz, B. 2020, Extension, University of Nevada, Reno, Field Guide
 

Associated Programs

Garden plant and pest sprayers image by Olga Seifutdinova from Getty Images

Integrated Pest Management

Integrated Pest Management program is a long-term management strategy that uses a combination of tactics to reduce pests to tolerable levels with potentially lower costs for the pest manager and minimal effect on the environment.

master gardener team sitting on tractor

Master Gardeners of Washoe County

Master Gardeners provide free, research-based horticulture information to Nevadans.

Master Gardeners at tabling event

Master Gardeners of Nevada

Program trains local gardeners to provide research-based horticulture information to Nevadans