Every yard has pests. What most yards do not have is predators.
The missing piece Beneficial insects — lacewings, ladybugs, parasitic wasps, ground beetles, native bees — need food and shelter that non-native ornamentals do not provide. So they never colonize. So aphids, scale, and caterpillars go unchecked. So the homeowner sprays. So beneficials never colonize. And on it goes.
What native plants do Native flowering plants feed adult beneficial insects with nectar and pollen. Native shrubs and grasses give them shelter and overwintering sites. Within a season or two of adding real natives to a yard, the predator population catches up to the pest population, and pest outbreaks become brief instead of chronic.
The plants that do the most work Firebush, native salvia, blanket flower, muhly grass, coontie, beautyberry — all of these are magnets for beneficials. Any one of them is a start. A grouping of six or seven is a functioning pest-control system.
What we skip Broad-spectrum insecticides — including many organics like pyrethrin — kill beneficials indiscriminately. We stick to targeted treatments only when needed, and use plant selection as the real pest-control strategy.
This is not idealism. It is cheaper, easier, and more durable than the spray-every-two-weeks approach. It just takes patience the first year.