Is That Caterpillar Poisonous?

Gardens Alive! can help you win the fight against garden pests without harming your wild bird populations!

Watch the birds outside your home as they gather insects, worms and seeds from your lawn and gardens. A mother Bluebird plucks a caterpillar from the leaf of a hosta and whisks it off to its nest box where babies await. Is that tasty caterpillar from your garden an all natural meal or has it been contaminated by harmful chemicals and pesticides?

Because 67 million birds are poisoned by chemical pesticides and herbicides every year, Gardens Alive! has added two all natural, bird friendly products. These products will help you win your battle against pests without causing harm to wild birds.

Pyola Will stop pests cold. The most stubborn insects in your vegetable garden, flower garden and even your houseplants won't have a chance. Best of all, it's all natural! Pyola is a broad-spectrum spray that combines pyrethrin, a long-popular natural insecticide derived from pyrethrum flowers, with canola oil, extracted from rapeseed. Unlike most pesticides, it controls all stages of the insect's life cycle, including eggs and is useful on everything from asparagus to zucchini. Great for use on fruit trees and even on roses and houseplants! Try Pyola and and have confidence that you have done your part to protect the health of your backyard birds.

Now there's a new, bird friendly way to banish slugs and snails from your garden. Escar-Go! is a unique blend of naturally occurring iron phosphate and food-grade bait that's attractive to slugs and snails. As soon as they ingest even a small amount of Escar-Go! granules, slugs and snails stop feeding and begin to die within a few days. Escar-Go! can be used wherever slugs and snails are a problem-without the danger of secondary poisoning to pets, children, birds or other wildlife. Any Escar-Go! not eaten by slugs or snails will biodegrade to become part of your garden soil.

Our backyard birds are as beautiful as they are delicate. One of the reasons that we feed the birds is to bring their beauty up close to our homes and gardens where we can enjoy them. With this enjoyment comes a certain amount of responsibility. We all can take steps to insure that the way we care for our homes and gardens does not have a negative impact on the birds that we have attracted.

« Back to Tips & Articles