As days get longer and warmer, we all look forward to being outside, doing yard work to keep your lawn looking grand and having fun with cookouts, water fights, entertaining friends and family or whatever you like to use your yard for. However, warmer, and longer days also mean bugs want to move into your space. Fortunately, there are some things that you can do outside to limit unwanted creepy crawlies in your yard and home.
Keep Your Yard Clean
When leaves and other living matter die, they will lay around and rot and decay. These organic compounds attract bugs. As much as we don’t like bugs, they are necessary. Most insects are decomposers, they feed from dead organic matter, so removing such things from your yard denies them a food source. When you have excess materials that attracts bugs, you will also attract creatures that feed on bugs, like mice and rats for example.
Keep Your Lawn Mowed
As mundane as it sounds, this is one of the most effective bug control tips. Fleas, ticks, snails, caterpillars, and slugs all love taller grass. They can cling to tall blades of grass and the tall grass helps conceal them from predators. Keeping your yard clean and trimmed makes a huge difference in how many unwanted guests you have dropping by your yard.
Transplant Plants that Attract Bugs
Some plants are more attractive to bugs than others. For example, plants with curved leaves or pubescent leaves (rough and possibly fuzzy) trap water and bugs need water to survive more than food. If leaves store water, mosquitos will also lay their eggs there and your mosquito population will increase. Other plants like lavender for example, or other sweet-smelling plants, will attract wasps and bees, so do your homework and find plants that are less attractive to bugs and flying insects.
Choose Plants that Bugs Dislike
Although many plants attract bugs, there are some wonderful plants that offer a fragrance or pungent smell that repels insects. Your local nurseries can help you find some great bug repelling plants such as chrysanthemums. This amazing plant is infamous for its repelling properties. These beautiful flowers will repel cockroaches, silverfish, beetles, ants, even ticks. These plants contain a chemical compound called pyrethrum which is actually toxic to insects. Other good choices are petunias and marigolds, there are even some plants like mosquito shockers, geraniums, wormwood, mint, pennyroyal and basil that are known to repel insects because of their pungent aromas.
Mulch Choices
Do your research when choosing a mulch. Some mulches will actually attract bugs like anything labeled as organic. Remember bugs often feed off dead organic materials, so in choosing a mulch, choose inorganic mulches like rubber, plastic, rocks, and pebbles.
Create Buffer Zones
If you do choose to use organic mulch, be sure that you place it far from your home. Mulch piled up in beds against your home is inviting insects into your home. Most organic mulches are wood mulches, natural, untreated wood can create a foundation for insects, especially termites. If you use mulch, be sure that it is at least 2 feet away from the walls of your home to discourage unwanted guests.
Carefully Evaluate Lighting
It is a well-known fact that lighting invites some insects to come and party together. Moths are drawn to lights and will hover around them in warm months. If moths are drawn to the lights, so are things that feed on moths like spiders. When possible, keep lighting away from doors and windows or choose a light color that is not known to attract bugs. Other bugs like cockroaches are repelled by lights which is another consideration when you are landscaping for outdoor lighting.
Limit Shade Around Your Garden
Insects in general aren’t fans of direct sunlight; bugs prefer cool, dark, damp places. If your garden has lots of shaded areas, you are more likely to attract bugs. You can reduce the shading to your garden by keeping the area around it trimmed and prune your trees and hedges. Also, when planting, ensure that there is space between plants, so the soil has as little shade as possible.
These are just a few steps to limit your population of yard and home insects and pests, if you need help eliminating pests from your home or yard, contact All-Natural Pest Elimination at 877-662-8449 to assess your home and yard for pest control.
