Hello World! Welcome Friends! There are over 900,000 known living species of insects in this world. Sometimes, it feels like 899,999 of them have made a home right in your backyard.
However, you don’t have to pull up a chair for the pesky flying and crawling squatters around your home. With the right defensive measures, you can prevent many of them from coming to bother you in the first place.
Read on for our complete guide on backyard pest control.
Avoid Standing Water
Standing water is a major no-no when it comes to backyard pest control. Mosquitoes will use it as a breeding ground and invade your yard before you know it.
To keep bugs out of the yard, try to avoid standing water whenever possible. If you can, fill in any parts of your yard that tend to collect pools of water. Get a pump for outdoor ponds and be sure to empty out any containers after it rains, too.
Keep Your Yard Well-Maintained
Tallgrass and thick weeds provide an optimal environment for yard bugs like ticks, ants, and fleas. For backyard pest control, it’s essential to keep your lawn mowed regularly and to get rid of weeds and other tall brush. Also, be sure to trim back your trees and shrubs too.
Remove Clutter and Trash
Having clutter and trash in your yard is not only unsightly: it also provides the perfect place for yard bugs to live and breed.
Open containers can collect water and quickly become breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Anything lying around with food residue will also sabotage your backyard pest control efforts, inviting flies, ants, and many more pests into your yard.
Keep Food and Trash Covered
The aroma of food and food scraps from your trash cans will attract tons of bugs to your backyard. If you’re trying to get rid of bugs in your yard, make sure to keep these covered.
Install Patio Fans
For lounging areas, such as your patio or deck, installing fans can offer backyard pest control in addition to keeping you cool. Mosquitoes hate the breeze, as do other pesky flying insects.
Feature Backyard Pest Control Plants
Bugs tend to hate strong-smelling plants (especially mint and citrus), so you can actually use your garden as a means of backyard pest control. Focus these plants near eating and sitting areas for the best results.
Here are some of the most popular mosquito-repelling plants to include in your garden:
- Citronella
- Lemon-Scented Geranium
- Lemon Thyme
- Marigold
- Rosemary
Here are a few more notable insect-repelling plants:
- Basil (flies, mosquitoes)
- Lavender (moths, flies, mosquitoes)
- Chrysanthemums (roaches, ticks, ants, fleas)
As an added bonus, you’ll have some delicious herbs for the kitchen, too.
If maintaining a garden doesn’t quite fit into your schedule, you can make things easier by installing automatic watering systems. Sergio’s Lawn Services suggests incorporating an automatic irrigation system to allow you to grow a healthy garden full of naturally bug-repelling plants for backyard pest control.
Keeping Your Backyard Bug-Free
While it’s inevitable that you’ll have to deal with some unwanted guests in your yard, you can still minimize the number with the proper precautions. Now that you know the basics of backyard pest control, you’ll be better equipped for a relaxed and bug-free summer.
For more home tips, check out our other blog entries.
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Toodles,
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