Your garden attracts pests, although many of these will stay outside, there are some that will move through your garden and into your home. This makes the garden your first line of defense.
There are two stages to controlling garden pests, identifying the pest, and preventing it from coming into your garden.
Of course, if you already have an infestation you’ll need to contact your local pest control expert, click here to connect with one now!
Identifying
Again, click here and you’ll access a professional that can tell you what you’re dealing with and the best steps to take to deal with the issue.
To help prevent issues in the future you need to first identify the pests. The simplest way to do this is to look at the damage they are causing. For example, termites love wood and leave small boreholes in the wood.
It should be noted that carpenter ants do this as well, but, when they are creating holes in your wood they are not eating the wood, simply removing it.
Alternatively, slugs leave slimy trails, and whitefly congregates under leaves. You simply need to look and you’ll be able to identify the pest you’re dealing with.
Controlling
There are several steps you’ll need to take:
Physical Barriers
Slugs will not cross a salt line, cutworms eat cornmeal and die because they can’t digest it, flies are attracted to sugar, a fly trap will attract them and kill them.
You need to know what you’re dealing with in order to create the most effective barrier to them.
Traps
As mentioned you can make your own fly traps, you can also use poison bait or bait traps to attract the pests and dispatch them.
You will need to inspect the traps regularly in order to maintain them.
Plants
There are two options with plants. It is possible to plant sacrificial plants that will attract the pests and keep them away from your other plants. But, you can also use plants to keep pests away. For example, flies and mosquitoes are not keen on citronella or lavender.
Planting these near your home or the edge of your garden will help to keep these pests away.
Pesticides
This is an option but you should be aware that using pesticides can have a negative effect on the plants you’re trying to protect. That’s not really the result you want.
Visual Inspection
It is essential to visually inspect your home and your garden on a regular basis, this will help to ensure an issue is spotted early. Pests that move from your garden to your house will need an access point. This is often a tiny gap around your windows or doors.
Inspect your walls and the defenses you’ve created regularly.
Of course, these are all great preventative measures but they may not help if you already have an infestation. To deal with this you’re best to get professional help as quickly as possible.
