Plant Pests & Disease Control

Weeds are the ultimate garden pests.  They can take over your plant population or your front lawn in a matter of days, and getting rid of them is not always easy.  It's important to know how to identify and control weeds in order to have a successful growing season.

Caring for your lawn or garden can sometimes seem like a full-time job. In order to raise healthy plants, you'll need to be on the lookout for insects, animals, and diseases that can cause problems. The most common problem in any garden, however, is the common weed. Weeds can take over a garden or lawn very quickly, choking out the plants and grass and taking over the growing space.

Nobody wants to spray poisons all over or spend hours pulling weeds one by one. The key to eradicating a weed problem is knowing how to identify and remove weeds once and for all.

If you love to garden and take care of your lawn, and you're looking for help with weed control, you've come to the right place. Our articles offer a wealth of valuable information on how to safely and easily remove weeds without hours of effort or harmful side effects. Let us help you help your plants!

Read what people are talking about in our plant pests forum section.



Plant Pests & Disease Control Guides

  • Common house plant pests: Whitefly

    Whiteflies are dandruff-like tiny insects with two pairs of wings that are covered in a white powdery wax. Younger stages are wingless, and damage the plants severely by sucking out their juices.

  • Common house plant pests: Thrips

    The adult insects move freely around on the plant. They suck plant juices from the leaves, causing pale spots. In a severe infestation the leaves turn yellow and die. These pests thrive in hot, dry conditions.

  • Common house plant pests: Red Spider Mites

    These are tiny spiders with bristly backs hardly visible with the naked eye. If you are using a hand lens you would be able to see that the creatures have eight legs rather than the six typical of insects.

  • Common house plant pests: Scale

    Check the underside of your leaves and on the stem of the plant for oval, shell or thread-shaped insects. They spend most of their lives stationary on the plant. Protected by a waxy scale which varies in colour from white to brown.

  • Common house plant pests: Mealy Bugs

    Mealy bugs are off-white in colour and have oval flattened bodies growing to about 3mm long. Waxy strands that resemble legs occur along the sides of the body and some species also have a long "tail." Normally they leave small cottony masses, their eggs, where the leaves join onto the stem.

  • Common house plant pests: Aphids

    Check the undersides of leaves, new shoots and buds for an oval shaped insect which grows to about 3mm long with disproportionately long legs and antennae; some species also have wings. Aphids may be green, pink, brown, white, black, yellow, red or grey.

  • Pest control safety

    It doesn't take a genius or extreme neurosis to know that certain pest controls should be left as a last resort. Before you jump into the dangerous stuff, check out the environmental-friendly, safe and humane ways to ward off garden and lawn pests. When all else fails, then it's time to break out the big guns.

  • All about pest control products

    It can be a hassle to rid your outdoors of pests. Many options are available in stores and online, ranging from friendly fire, to all-out extermination. Below are some suggestions for the soft-hearted gardener.