What kind of bugs/pests are we talking about? Makes a big difference in the need to control or not and methods used.

Dave

The presence of bugs may or may not mean a problem depending on which bugs there are. Soils that are well amended with organic matter do provide a very good habitat for many insect species and there are some 8,000,000 of those identified and of those only about 8,000 are problems and many of the rest are predators of those pests, so most of the insects you see most likely are beneficials and not pests.

Good questions there. I do understand the predicament, because whenever we mulch with shredded yard waste we get tons of sow bugs living in it which munch up certain plants like there's no tomorrow. You come out the next morning and your marigold starts are denuded.