When lily leaves are chewed and the squash vines wither and die, chemical warfare comes to mind as the only way to rescue your hard work. Many products are available for wholesale attacks on insects but maybe that's not the first approach to try.

Jessica Walliser teaches organic pest management and has a new book out, Good Bug Bad Bug, in which she identifies the difference between the good and the bad. The weather protected, laminated pages of her book describe and picture 24 destructive pests and 14 of the most beneficial insects.

“This book has been a dream of mine for years,” Walliser said in a telephone interview. “Students in my classes asked for an easy to use, affordable bug guide and St. Lynn’s Press was willing to work with me to produce exactly what they need."

Walliser said that the book is geared toward anyone who is looking for safer and more natural solutions to problems in the garden. When people realize how many environmental issues a product like Sevin actually causes, they want to find something less harmful.

Each page contains a color photo either of the insect and or image of the damage they cause. You’ll also find its scientific name, lifecycle facts, tips for spotting the damage, a list of susceptible plants, what biological controls and preventive actions to use, and some organic products you can use safely.

“Only 10-percent of insects are actually harmful to your garden. The other 90-percent are either benign or beneficial,” Walliser said. “People should ask for organic pest control products in their local stores, so managers know there is a market for them.”

Many of the insects destroyed by a blanket of insecticide are pollinators, decomposers, or food for someone higher up the food chain. For example, baby birds only eat insects.

To move toward a more organic approach, eliminate chemical synthetics in the garden and put in plants that attract beneficial insects.

The task of planting things that attract beneficial insects is fairly easy since the list includes many common garden plants. All flowering herbs (thyme, dill, fennel, oregano, sage, cilantro, and basil for example), Shasta daisies, asters, cosmos, Joe Pye weed, brambles (berries), alyssum, lemon balm, goldenrod, yarrow, feverfew, and flowering buckwheat are all great choices.

The book is loaded with practical information to help identify insects and provides realistic and proven techniques to control and prevent them along with safe and natural products to manage them.

Four steps of pest management:

1. Identify the pest and the plant host.

2. Use preventative and cultural methods first.

3. Use beneficial insects to consume the harmful insects.

4. Use organic controls only when other methods fail.