With spring just around the corner, gardeners across Connecticut are preparing to defend their gardens from unwanted insects, animals, and plants. But gardening experts said pesticides might not be the first thing to turn to as a deterrent.
Joining WNPR'SWhere We Live, gardening writer and speaker Charlie Nardozzi reminded listeners to avoid spraying pesticides as a first line of defense, regardless of how environmentally friendly the product is marketed.
"We have this misnomer that because it's an organic spray, then it's safe," Nardozzi said. "And that's true to a large extent. But it's still a pesticide, and it still kills things, and you still have to be careful how you use it."
Donna Ellis, a plant science educator, reminded pesticide users that with the declining population of pollinators, the best way to restore their numbers is to avoid chemicals and plan for long-term flowering in gardens. She said this will keep agriculture thriving, and minimize the extinction of different species.
In addition to planting various flowers that bloom from early spring through late fall, Nardozzi said residents should select different heirlooms and heritages of plants, such as veracious perennials.
"Those have a better nectar and pollen content to them for the bees and for a lot of the native insects, versus some of the more modern hybrids," Nardozzi said. "As they've hybridized them for different colors or different characteristics, they get some sterile seed in there, and the pollen is not the highest quality for those bees."
Invasive species aren't anything new to Connecticut gardeners -- there are 97 on the official state list. Ellis said many originated in home gardens, were tended to, and then naturalized without residents noticing. Now, she said, their growth is unmeasured as they continue to spread through various landscapes.
"The big picture -- and why we're most concerned with it -- is that they out-compete our native species, and that reduces the value and quality of wildlife habitat," Ellis said.
Karelyn Kuczenski is an intern at WNPR.