Now that the trees and shrubs are leafing out, the insect pests are starting to appear. Take a stroll through your yard and examine the new foliage for unwelcome guests. Catching the the little stinkers early, before the soon-to-be-warmer weather causes a population boom, will pay enormous dividends later on.

Here in the Lawn and Garden department we have several choices in pest control. We still stock several of the familiar chemicals, including malathion and sevin. These products work very well but, more and more; environmentally conscious gardeners are switching to organic products for pest control.

We have an excellent selection of natural or organic pest control remedies. Many of the newer organic products use essential oils as their active ingredients. We have a ready-to-use fruit and vegetable spray from Dr. Earth, which uses oils from rosemary, cinnamon, clove, and garlic. Organocide uses sesame oil and Yardsafe Insect Repellent contains cedar oil as its active ingredient. We also have a new granular insecticide from EcoSmart that uses a clove extract, called eugenol, along with thyme and wintergreen oils. This product uses peanut shells as a carrier. It is labeled to both kill and repel carpenter ants, ticks and fleas, earwigs, and a bunch of others.

We also have Neem oil, a very effective broad-spectrum insecticide/miticide/fungicide derived from an Asian tree. Other choices include BT for young caterpillars and mosquito larvae, diatomaceous earth, and a product called Spinosad which was first discovered under an abandoned rum distillery in the Caribbean.

. Many of these products are approved for use up to the day of harvest so you can confidently go out and nip the little beggars literally right in the bud.