"Top Ways to Keep Your Yard Pest-Free This Summer"

Hi there! Welcome to our Blog: Our current topic of discussion, you might have guessed, are ways you can keep your yard pest-free this summer. Don't let bugs and pests ruin your summer fun this year.

Let's get started!

Don't over water your lawn. A lot of bugs love moisture especially in the hot summer sun. Mosquitoes, Crane Flies, Ants, Spiders, Cockroaches, & Silverfish are among many that are drawn to water. We recommend during the summer months, watering your lawn no more than 3 times a week. If it rains, skip watering as mother nature is helping you cut down that water bill plus giving your grass a lot of natural nutrients from the rainfall.

2. 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 bugs, 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. Maintaining and mowing your lawn and yard may seem like a way too simple of a solution but it does go a long way when it comes to preventing pests. Many bugs like fleas, ticks, spiders, & true bugs (stink bugs) and even mice and rats, love to hide out in long, thick grass. In addition to keeping your lawn short, trimming bushes and trees will be a big help, too. Overhanging tree branches and bushes touching your home can provide easy access routes into your home. Trim trees and bushes when you notice them starting to touch your house or roof. Ants, spiders, and rodents like taking advantage of these easy access routes in order to find food, water, and convenient places to hide.

4. With backyard BBQ's, parties, and celebrations on the rise in the summer, it gives a lot of opportunities for yellow jackets, wasps, rodents, ants, cockroaches, and many other pests to set up shop nearby or in your home. Food is one big reason why pests may be seen around your home.

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. 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 drawn to wood piles and old tree stumps. If they have made a nest in your wood pile or in an old stump nearby chances are they could make their way to your home. Carpenter ants periodically send out scouts to look for new places to nest nearby to their main nest. Carpenter ants love any wood they can munch on, like siding, logs, wood construction materials, and wood posts.

Picture -

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

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

6. One of our top recommendations: Check around your home, inside and out for signs of any pest activity on a regular basis. Especially if your home resides around bodies of water or forests. Catching pest problems early can help prevent significant damage to your home and reduce the chances of a large infestation.

How to do a quick inspection and look for signs:

Take a walk around the exterior of your home; look for mice droppings, stinging insect nests, ant mounds, frass (wood shavings), and spider webs and eggs. If you have a large number of these, it could mean you have an abundant amount of rodents, stinging insects, wood boring insects, and spiders around your home.
Take a peek in your garage, attic, and crawl space (if you have one) as these spaces make perfect nesting and hiding places for rodents and all kinds of bugs.
For the interior of your home: Check around doors, windows, and any entry points to your home for pest activity. Kitchens are a main area of your home that bugs love. There is access to water and lots of food and bugs and rodents know that. Look under and behind refrigerators, ovens, microwaves, and pantries. Most common pest signs you might find in the kitchen, mice droppings, cockroach poop, odorous house ants, and pantry pests like indian meal moths.

Awesome job in getting this far! I know I am throwing out a lot of information. But the little things can go a long way when it comes to pest prevention. The rest of our top ways will be focused on prevention and maintenance. These aren't just great for summer but year round as well.

7. Simple easy fixes or changes to do for your home:

Declutter as much as you can. Spiders and other bugs adore a cluttered environment; it provides countless hiding spots and an ideal setup for their webbing activities. Dusting and cutting out clutter are two big ways to eliminate and prevent all kinds of bugs.
Caulk around windows, check your door seals, and look for holes in window screens (replace as needed). Seal up gaps and holes inside and outside your home that are greater than 1/4 inch diameter. This will help keep bugs and rodents from coming in through any entry or exit points.
Store any food or animal feed in rodent-proof containers if possible. A rodent-proof container is made of thick plastic, glass, or metal and has a tight-fitting lid. This will keep any pantry pests, ants, or rodents out of your food and pet food. Throw out all contaminated food if you see any bugs or droppings in them.
In your garage, if you store any type of pet food or animal feed in there, put them in big plastic containers. Check your local stores in the pet aisle for pet storage containers or use thick plastic totes for food storage. It is really common for mice and rats to enter a home because they are highly attracted to dog food, animal feed, and any food located in the garage. If you have a freezer or refrigerator in the garage be sure to clean and throw out any old food periodically. Check around the garage door for holes that rodents can enter or exit through. Examine and replace garage door seals if you notice any light coming through when you close your garage.

8. Contact your local pest control company if you notice a pest infestation. Don't wait or put it off for too long. A lot of bugs and especially mice and rats can breed very quickly which can cause a lot of damage to homes. Rodents carry a lot of diseases and will chew up electrical wires. Catching an infestation early can save you so much trouble and money from damages.

We at Behr Pest Solutions, offer free home inspections, same day services, and even more pest prevention tips to help you say goodbye to pests, and hello peace of mind. Contact us at 509 608 1852 for your Free Home Inspection today.