Spring is an excellent time to make a pest management plan. Healthy plants are your number one defense in the pest battle, and the most important thing you can do is to provide nutrient rich soil for your plants so they can do their best.

The reality is pests will do the most harm to plants that are weak. Oh sure, you might see aphids on some, but there will most likely be minimal damage to healthy ones while the comprised ones may not survive.

Building Healthy Soil

Providing fertilizer is one thing, but building up the soil with compost and organic material gives plants everything they need, particularly when it comes to warding off the bad bugs.

Repeat after me: Compost is my friend. Making your own compost is the best way to go. Do this by either creating a pile (or piles) in your backyard, investing in a tumbler, or trying your hand at worm farming. In some climates, such as Florida or other warmer states, it breaks down rather quickly so you could make several batches per year. In northern areas, it might take all season to make a wheelbarrow load (if youre lucky). This means you might have to buy it to have enough to truly fortify your garden beds.

Glacier Gold Compost

My personal favorite is Glacier Gold compost from a small company in Olney, Montana. They combine wood waste with biosolids (yes, thats poo). It is labeled as an organic compost. Ive read several reports warning on using biosolid compost because of the heavy metals found in the sludge used in many of the blends, but the area where they obtain their sludge has always tested fine on it. Keep that in mind, though, when youre purchasing this type of compost. Do your research before using it, particularly on anything youre going to eat.

Steer Manure

Another product you need to watch is steer manure found in many stores. I havent been impressed with it as it seems to have very low nutrient value. Finding local manure is the best way to go. Rabbit is wonderful if you can find enough of it. It doesnt burn the plants, but is high in nitrogen and phosphorous.

Horse is okay if its aged for several years, partly to kill the weed seeds (which abound in horse manure) and partly to reduce the risk of herbicide damage to your crops.

I thought I was being very smart several years ago when I used composted horse manure from a nearby stable that fed only weed seed free hay. It didnt bring in any weed seeds, but it nearly wiped out my peppers, tomatoes and others in the Solanaceae family. The herbicide they used on the pasture to keep it weed free stays in the hay itself, eventually passing through the horse. These potent chemicals can stay in the manure for YEARS. The manure we used when I first built the gardens was fine because it was at least a decade old. The second wave I worked into the ground was much newer and very toxic. I was even concerned about eating the vegetables that I picked from the plants that did survive.

Grass Clippings

Watching for herbicides used in materials you put in the garden holds true for grass clippings, as well. Theyre great to use for mulch and to add organic matter into the soil, but dont use them for at least 3 cuttings after treating it. Erring on an even more conservative side is wise.

Improving your soil keeps your plants healthy so they can withstand pests nibbling on them, and can reduce your need for reactive pest control in the future.