Texas Bug Book: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Honeybees in the flowers, fire ants in the yard, roaches in the kitchen--the good, the bad, and the ugly bugs are all over Texas! And they're here in the Texas Bug Book, your complete guide for identifying and organically controlling all of the most common Texas insects. Drawing on years of practical experience and research, organic gardening experts Malcolm Beck and Howard Garrett give detailed instructions on how to identify, understand the life cycle of, and control or protect Texas insects, mites, snails, slugs, nematodes, and other critters. They also include striking color photos and black-and-white drawings to help you identify each bug. What sets the Texas Bug Book apart from other insect guides is the authors' organic approach to pest control. Beck and Garrett highlight the many useful roles that bugs play in nature and offer proven organic remedies for infestations of pest insects. Most importantly, they explain how to create a balanced, healthy environment in which infestations are much less likely to occur.

HOWARD GARRETT is a landscape architect, certified arborist, horticulturist, and organic practitioner in Dallas. He promotes his organic gardening program, The Natural Way, through his WBAP-820 AM radio show, weekly column in the Dallas Morning News, monthly Dirt magazine, natural organic Web site www.dirtdoctor.com, and regional and national speaking engagements.

MALCOLM BECK, of San Antonio, is the founder of Garden-Ville Fertilizer Company. Winner of the Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence in 1997, he writes and speaks extensively on organic growing practices.