"Pest Prevention Tips to Keep Your Yard Pest-Free This Summer"

Don't let insects and pests ruin your outdoor summer fun this year. Check out these pest prevention tips to keep your yard pest-free this summer.

1. Prevention Tip: Don't over water your lawn.

   Many insects are attracted to moisture, particularly under the hot summer sun. Wasps, crane flies, ants, spiders, cockroaches, and silverfish are just a few that seek out water. We suggest watering your lawn no more than three times a week during the summer months. If it rains, you can skip watering since nature is assisting you in reducing your water bill while providing your grass with plenty of natural nutrients from the rain.

2. Prevention Tip: Eliminate any standing water.

• Fix any water leaks or plumbing issues as soon as possible. Look for signs of leaky gutters, too. In the summer heat, bugs and rodents will be looking for easy access to any type of water source.  Standing water can give permission to many insects, mice, and rodents to visit your home frequently or call your place home, too. With mosquitoes they use standing water to breed in.

• Mosquitoes will lay their eggs in pools of standing water. So if mosquitoes are bad in your area, consider doing these simple solutions to reduce mosquito populations:

• Empty or turn over anything that holds standing water—old tires, buckets, wheelbarrows, plastic covers, kids pools, and toys. Do not let water stagnate for more than seven days.

• Change water in birdbaths, fountains, wading pools, and animal troughs weekly.

• Consider aerating ornamental pools and use landscaping to eliminate standing water.

• Recycle unused containers—bottles, cans, and buckets that may collect water.

3. Prevention Tip: Upkeep and mowing of your lawn and yard. Although it may seem like a very simple solution, it is highly effective in preventing pests. Many insects, such as fleas, ticks, spiders, and true bugs (like stink bugs), as well as mice, tend to hide in long, thick grass. Additionally, keeping your lawn short and trimming bushes and trees can be very beneficial. Overhanging tree branches and bushes that touch your home can serve as easy access points. Trim trees and bushes when they begin to touch your house or roof. Ants, spiders, and rodents often use these easy access routes to find food, water, and hiding spots.

4. Prevention Tip: Clean up outdoor eating areas. As backyard BBQs, parties, and celebrations become more frequent during the summer, they provide numerous opportunities for yellow jackets, wasps, rodents, ants, cockroaches, and various other pests to establish themselves near or in your home. One major reason pests are attracted to your home is the presence of food.

Some suggestions for you this summer:

• Keep cooking areas and grills cleaned and covered.

• Clean up and dispose of garbage in and around your house frequently. Don't leave out any opened or unopened food or garbage overnight. You can even seal up your outside garbage cans tightly so rodents can’t get in. 

• Keep food sealed in thick plastic or metal containers with tight lids.

• Don't leave out dirty dishes.

• Put pet food and animal feed away after use and store in rodent-proof containers if possible. A rodent-proof container is made of thick plastic, glass, or metal and has a tight-fitting lid.

5. Pest Prevention Tip: Store wood piles and stacks of lumber or other wood materials as far away from the home as possible. Examine woodpiles regularly and check for signs of carpenter ants, making homes in your woodpiles. Also take a look at stumps, wood posts, and fence lines for pest activity.

Why is this important?

Carpenter ants are attracted to wood piles and old tree stumps. If they've established a nest in your wood pile or in a nearby old stump, they might eventually find their way into your home. These ants occasionally send out scouts to search for new nesting locations close to their primary nest. Carpenter ants are fond of any wood they can chew on, such as siding, logs, construction materials, and wood posts.

Carpenter Ant Damage -

An example of carpenter ant damage: small cut outs or holes where carpenter ants have been eating.

There also will be frass (wood shavings) on or around the log or wood.

6. One of our key pest prevention tips is to regularly inspect both the interior and exterior of your home for any signs of pest activity. This is particularly important if your home is near bodies of water or forests. Identifying pest issues early can help prevent major damage to your home and decrease the likelihood of a large infestation..

Inspecting Your Home and What to Watch For:

• Walk around the outside of your home and look for signs like mice droppings, nests of stinging insects, ant hills, frass (wood shavings), and spider webs and eggs. A large presence of these could indicate a significant number of rodents, stinging insects, wood-boring insects, and spiders near your home.

• Check your garage, attic, and crawl space (if applicable), as these areas are ideal for nesting and hiding for rodents and various bugs.

• Inside your home: Inspect around doors, windows, and other entry points for signs of pests. Kitchens are particularly attractive to bugs due to the availability of water and food. Examine areas under and behind refrigerators, ovens, microwaves, and pantries. Common pest indicators in the kitchen include mice droppings, cockroach feces, odorous house ants, and pantry pests like Indian meal moths.

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Year-Round Pest Prevention Tips: These tips are not only great for summer but year round as well.

7. Additional pest prevention tips:

Simple and easy changes for your home:

• Minimize clutter as much as possible. Spiders and other insects thrive in cluttered spaces, which offer numerous hiding places and ideal conditions for webbing. Dusting and reducing clutter are key strategies to eliminate and prevent various bugs.

• Apply caulk around windows, inspect door seals, and check window screens for holes, replacing them if necessary. Seal any gaps and holes inside and outside your home that are larger than 1/4 inch in diameter to prevent bugs and rodents from entering through these points.

• Whenever possible, store food or animal feed in rodent-proof containers. These containers are made of thick plastic, glass, or metal and have tight-fitting lids. This will keep pantry pests, ants, and rodents out of your food and pet supplies. Discard any contaminated food if you find bugs or droppings.

• If you store pet food or animal feed in your garage, place them in large plastic containers. Check local stores in the pet aisle for storage containers or use thick plastic totes for food storage. Mice and rats are often attracted to dog food, animal feed, and any food stored in the garage. If you have a freezer or refrigerator in the garage, regularly clean and dispose of old food.

• Inspect the garage door for holes that rodents could use to enter or exit. Check and replace garage door seals if you notice any light coming through when the garage is closed.

If you observe a pest infestation, reach out to your local pest control company promptly. Avoid delaying action, as many insects and rodents can reproduce rapidly, leading to significant damage to homes. Rodents, in particular, carry numerous diseases and can gnaw through electrical wires. Addressing an infestation early can prevent extensive trouble and save you a considerable amount of money on repairs.

Thank you for reading our blog post. Be sure to check out our other blog articles. If you live in Spokane, WA and surrounding areas, we would be happy to help you with all your pest control needs. We offer services for residential and commercial properties. Free Consultations and Inspections!