5 Spring Pest Prevention Tips
Here are (5) quick ways to help prevent pests from seeking harborage, food or comfort in your home. These (5) things alone can go a long way in helping prevent the initial resurgence of pests.
Clear Your Foundation of Rotting Organic Matter- Why? Organic matter is great if you're gardening, trying to grow things, encouraging healthy soils and healthy environments for the ecological circle to triumph. However, organic matter is not healthy around the base of your home, I digress. Organic matter holds moisture, it holds nutrients, and it hosts organisms that can be food, provide food or otherwise live within this comfortable environment for their needs. Take for example Earwigs, they LOVE dark, moist and leafy environments. Turn over any a nice pile of rotting leaves in the spring and chances are, you'll see them or other common insects such as the centipede or millipede. Pulling these mediums away from your home will take away these environments, food sources and hiding places.
Early Spring Cleaning- Already!? Yes! When the grass is green and the leaves are already on the trees, it may be too late. Insects use pheromones to lay trails, directions, warnings, encouragement and many more directives to their colonies to support the colony and more. They use pheromones to help other workers find food, warn them about a potential danger or to even attack another organism or threat. These insects become more active as the weather begins to change, the ground thaws and more food/colony conducive weather presents itself. That being said, winter can be long, and we may avoid certain aspects of our home care, which they would prefer of course. Think of all the crumbs that fell behind the stove or between the counter, what about your sofa chair? Get ahead of it before they do, my advice would be late February to start your spring cleaning.
Clean Your Gutters- If you didn't do it in the fall (which I recommend, late fall just before snow begins to fall), you will want to do it as soon as the organic matter in the gutters has thawed. If you live in an area with a large population of Oak trees or Beech Trees, you know they're the last to lose their leaves, typically; that being said, those leaves may not be available to clean out in the fall due to the fact that some don't actually lose leaves until w leaves propagate themselves. The concept is the same as around your foundation, don't give insects and arachnids (spiders) the environments they thrive in.
Plant Insect Repellent Plants-Planting insect repellent plants, such as lemongrass, lavender and basil can be not only an environmentally friendly way to help repel certain pests, but you could also use them in home apothecary, food, essential oils and much more-It's a win-win! There are too many to name but check out the three above for some of the more popular ones.
Apply a Perimeter Insecticide Band-Another way in which you can provide yourself with the utmost protection when timing is the most important is applying insecticide around the base of your home, your eaves and around certain cracks and crevices. Think like an insect or spider-where would you want to hide? These insecticides can be conventional, or they can be green products that are less impactful to our environment. Regardless of your selection, it's imperative that you follow the label and not doing so is a violation of Federal Law, specifically FIFRA. The label will explain exactly how to apply, how much to apply, when to apply, what to target and more. With pollinators on a great decline-please apply judiciously or hire a professional. And if you need a professional, call us: (888) 369-5880 or www.pestprofessorllc.com
