Taqiyyah - It is not a favor to the banders. If they are working on a project or research that requires banding certain birds, coming to band in your yard might be helpful to their project. Most of these banders do this as volunteers. I like to reimburse them for their vehicle gas and provide breakfast or lunch for them, but that is just a courtesy on my part. They are often spending their own money to travel and eat when banding at various locations. This is a perk for them since they may not mind coming back if you are such a gracious host. Not everyone wants to have the birds banded that come to their yard. I do, because I am genuinely interested in the travels of these birds. There is a possibility that the birds will show up and be recapture by another bander in a different part of the USA. There is so much we do NOT know about most bird species, that banding sometimes presents a clue. I think it is important work.
As far as your garden plans, I have the same issues with pests and disease. Living in a mild climate means that Winter does not kill such things off. So it is a fine balance of nature. I am an organic gardener, though there are times I have conceded and used chemicals. But my ultimate goal is to find organic ways to fight bugs and diseases of plants so I can completely eliminate chemicals from my garden. That also goes for commercial fertilizer. I have started 2 worm bins to collect worm castings which makes organic and healthy fertilizer for my plants!
As far as Japanese beetles, I had read that growing 4 O'Clock plants will attract them. They eat the 4 O'Clock foliage and flowers and are poisoned by it and die. There are many, many other companion plants that serve a purpose of fighting pests and even diseases of other plants.
