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Steven |
Zien |
Phone: |
916-726-5377 |
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Service
Categories: |
structural |
commercial
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school
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landscape
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residential
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golf course
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Living Resources
Company (LRC) provides residential clients the ability to solve all
their growing problems naturally without the use of toxic synthetic
fertilizers and pesticides. Our program begins by evaluating the clients
soil, plant material, turf and other factors. A custom blended organic
soil fertilization program is designed to encourage a diverse population
of beneficial soil organisms. This is the foundation of our maintenance
program yielding healthy, pest resistant landscape. A foliar fertilizer
is applied to the landscape and an IPM inspection is made monthly.
Foliar fertilization provides nutrient insurance. Plants regularly
undergo environmental stress, which restricts nutrient uptake. Our
foliar fertilizer reduces these nutrient deficiencies, improving plant
health and pest resistance. If pests are discovered, an organic pest
management program is initiated. Pruning is done correctly to maintain
the plants natural shape while helping it to resist pests. Improper
pruning is often the cause of pest invasion. LRC also offers all the
above services on a one time basis. For clients who like to do the
work themselves but occasionally need some help. LRC also offers consultations. |
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What is
your definition of Integrated Pest Management (IPM)? |
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IPM is a decision
making process that utilizes all available options to help maintain
pest levels below tolerable levels. This should include design (or
redesign) and habitat modification, changes in human activities, biological
controls, physical, cultural and mechanical controls, organically
acceptable chemicals (e.g. pheromones) and more toxic materials only
as a last result. Evaluation of management practices and continued
education to learn about new and improved products and techniques
are also important components of IPM. The least disruptive controls
should always be used first. Only then should more disruptive options
be implemented. Least toxic materials and techniques that have minimal
effect on non-target organisms should be used. An IPM program should
result in a permanent reduction of pest problems and be cost effective
in the short and long run. LRC believes that landscape IPM begins
the soil. Create a fertile soil with an abundance of beneficial organisms
and plants grow healthier and more resistant to pest attack. The beneficial
organisms also help control pests by competing for space in the environment
as well as actually fighting off pests (e.g., production of antibiotics).
Taking a soil analysis and following its recommendations will go a
long way to creating a fertile soil that is capable of producing healthy,
pest resistant plants. The proper selection of plant material is vital
(right plant, right place). Plants installed in the wrong place will
have pest problems. Plants adapted to their growing conditions will
be healthier and have fewer pest problems. Diversityis also important
in creating a stable ecological landscape. This includes plant selection,
choice of fertilizer materials and other biological components. Proper
cultural and mechanical controls are vital. Fertilization should be
based on a soil analysis. Pruning must be conducted at the proper
time and done correctly to minimize pest susceptibility. Mowing lawns
high and in different directions can help minimize weed invasion.
All management practices (e.g., deep and infrequent irrigation) must
minimize plant stress to reduce the plants susceptibility to pests.
Frequent scouting is absolutely necessary to identify primary and
secondary pests, as well as, beneficial organisms. When pests are
identified, tolerance levels must be established and a complete management
plan needs to be designed. When designing a control strategy all available
data needs to be collected, recorded, and evaluated. This should include
pests identified (primary and secondary), beneficials, current cultural
practices etc. Weather and similar climatic data must also play a
role in the design of an IPM program. For example, there may be no
need to control a pest in late fall if it is frost sensitive. Simply
waiting for nature to kill the pest in a few days or weeks may eliminate
the need for any action. Spays should not be applied prior to expected
rain. When all of the above information is gathered and recorded,
the cause of the pest infestation should be determined. Traditionally,
when a pest was discovered a pesticides was used to kill it. This
only treated the symptom of the problem not the cause. When designing
an IPM program the cause of the problem needs to be treated. Only
elimination of the cause of the problem will eliminate the pest long
term. In IPM program needs to include necessary changes in cultural
practices (e.g., mowing, irrigation amounts and timing), physical
and mechanical controls (e.g., daily water sprays), use of beneficial
insects, and only when all other options have failed the use of organically
acceptable pest control products. If the proper IPM procedures are
followed the use of even organically acceptable pesticides should
be kept to a minimum. (Note a traditional IPM program would include
chemical pesticides.) Finally, an IPM program must also include recording
data and evaluation. During and after the management process, procedures
and products must be evaluated for their effectiveness. Changes may
be required to improve its effectiveness. |
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Is pest management performed on a specific schedule? |
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Pest management
will always need to use a specific schedule for its practices. However,
this does not mean the application of pesticides on a specific schedule!
Scouting is a vital component in IPM. Monitoring for pests is done
regularly so pests can be identified before they exceed tolerable
levels. Once discovered, more frequent monitoring may be required
to determine if and when action is necessary to keep the pest below
tolerable levels. Regular, frequent monitoring allows cultural, physical
and mechanical controls a better opportunity to keep the pest below
tolerable levels. Each situation will determine the frequency of monitoring.
Specific pesticides should never be applied on a specific schedule,
with one exception, application of horticultural oil (organically
acceptable) to dormant plants that have a history of pest problems.
Even the application of these sprays should be altered as necessary
to accommodate the weather and climate, which can vary from year to
year. To maintain landscape plants resistance to pests, LRC utilizes
the application of an organic, liquid fertilizer to the leaves of
landscape plants. This is usually done monthly to ensure plants do
not undergo nutrient stress, which if left untreated, could increase
a plants pest susceptibility. In the traditional sense of pest management,
this might not be considered a pest control procedure (not the application
of a pesticide), however, LRC believes regular foliar feeding is critical
in maintaining a plants health and natural resistance to pest attack.
Healthy plants are better able to resist pest attract than stressed
plants. |
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How
are pest problems identified? |
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Pests are identified
through monitoring. |
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What practices
do you use to prevent and/or control pests? |
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Maintaining healthy
plants is the key to preventing pest problems. That begins with the
creation of a fertile soil with an abundance and diverse beneficial
organisms. Proper plant selection is vital. Maintenance practices
are performed to minimize plant stress which maximizes pest resistance.
Frequent monitoring identifies potential problems before they result
in a serious pest problem. This allows softer control procedures to
be implemented with a better chance of success. |
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Do you
use biological controls? |
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Borates may be
a viable least toxic pest control product when other forms of pest
control have failed. |
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Do you
use synthetic chemicals? |
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The only synthetic
chemical that Living Resources utilizes is horticultural oil, which
is considered organically acceptable. Horticultural oil, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), neem, insecticidal soap, pyrethrum, diatomaceous earth, boric acid, sulfur (when absolutely necessary), Bt israelensis
(for mosquitoes), garlic barrier. |
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What are
the top 10 pesticides you use/sell/recommend? |
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If pesticides are used, how much are used per year of each? |
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Does your
company perform habitat modification? |
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Yes. Plants that
are not suited to particular situations making them susceptible to
pest attack are replaced with plants that are adapted to the growing
conditions of the site. |
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Do you
use any physical or mechanical controls? |
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Yes, flame, long
handled and hand weeding tools, as well as frequent forceful blasts
of water physically remove pests. Barriers are used to deny pests
access to plants. |
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What type
of fertilizers do you use/sell/recommend? |
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Living Resources
Company utilizes only organic materials in combinations as recommended
by a soil analysis. Ingredients may include, feather meal, blood meal,
cottonseed meal(organic), rock phosphate, granite dust, humate products
(e.g., menefee humate), gypsum, kelp meal, oyster shell lime, ground
limestone, sulfate of potash (mined), composted chicken manure, fish
meal, soil sulfur, alfalfa meal, and iron sulfate. Our foliar fertilizers
are made from liquefied kelp, water soluble fish fertilizers and manure/herb
teas. |
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What do
you usually use/sell/recommend for addressing: |
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cockroaches |
Not applicable |
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fleas |
Beneficial nematodes
and regular vacuuming. |
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carpenter
ants |
Not applicable. |
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fire ants |
Not applicable. |
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ants (indoor) |
Not applicable. |
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crabgrass |
Mow high to shade
out weed seeds. Cultural practices to encourage a dense turf stand
(irrigation, fertilization, core aeration, overseeding). Corn gluten
meal, physical removal and tolerance are also options. |
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dandelions |
Mow high to shade
out weed seeds as well as physical removal. |
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How do
you evaluate effectiveness of your pest management |
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Monitoring and
record keeping allows LRC to regularly evaluate our pest management
allowing for improvements in all aspects of our maintenance program.
Customer satisfaction and feed back also plays a role in evaluating
our programs. |
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