Sharing your home with pests is not ideal. Situations like rodents scurrying in your pantry, bats nesting in the attic, termites eating your roof or cockroaches hiding in the cabinets are nerve-wracking and disruptive.
While keeping your home pest-free might feel like a challenging task, you have the power to keep these unwanted guests at bay. Stop living like you have ants in your pants with these seven practical tips.
Use Vegetation as Repellent
Most pests heavily rely on their sense of smell to find food. They can use information from complex odors to point them in the right direction. Use this ability against them by surrounding your yard with plants they dislike.
Animals either love or hate greenery with aromatic foliage. Do your research and plant strategically to magnetize likable creatures and deter pesky ones.
Herbs — such as mint, oregano, parsley and chives — are repulsive to flies and vegetable vermin but attract beneficial bugs, which contribute to pest control and pollination. And so do thyme, rosemary, sage and other fragrant shrubs.
Onion, garlic, fennel and black pepper repel rats. Barricading your home with the Christ plant is a thorn in the side of rodents and other critters who might want to invade.
Lure Birds to Visit
Some birds are nuisances, but many can be your feathered friends. Avians are voracious bug eaters, which can help you eradicate a wide range of irksome insects — including aphids, ants, beetles, gnats and grasshoppers. They consume larvae and adults alike.
Setting up a birdbath gives birds more reason to frequent your yard and hunt for meals. However, cover your gutters to avoid giving mixed signals that you’re inviting them to stay.
If most warblers ignore your property, installing a nesting box or two will make them reconsider. Living close to their hunting grounds allows birds to conserve energy and guard their young against predators more effectively.
Make a Frog-Friendly Garden
Frogs and toads love munching on creepy-crawlies. They’re generalists, snatching and devouring most insects and invertebrates on sight.
Native species are common in residential areas with welcoming yards. If you don’t see these amphibians outdoors, make your house friendlier to them.
Common frogs and toads prefer to shelter in messy habitats. You can let your lawn grow a little longer or grow diverse native greenery to create a living space for them. Building a little pond also works wonders.
Leave Spiders Alone
Most spiders are benign to humans, but they’re harmful to pests. Their presence suggests insects are lurking nearby. Seeing them in groups indicates a feast.
Allowing a few spiders to live under your roof can be harmless — from a health point of view. These arachnids will repay you by consuming common disease-carrying indoor pests, including mosquitoes, ticks, fleas and roaches.
Keep Moisture Levels in Check
Living organisms need water for survival — pests are no exception. Mice gravitate to damp areas to drink, and they are good at evaluating water depth to avoid danger and prevent drowning.
Some insects can sense humidity, allowing them to find water sources for sustenance, breeding and comfort. They normally congregate somewhere cold and wet to reproduce and colonize areas. Managing your home’s moisture levels should make your residence a less desirable shelter for these little intruders.
Seal all openings around your house — even the tiniest crevices in the walls and foundation may still be big enough for ants, mites, earwigs, silverfish and ladybugs to slip through.
Repair roofing and siding leaks, caulk cracks in masonry and wood features and cover the gaps around windows and doors with weatherstripping. Adding a threshold prevents critters from sneaking under your garage doors.
Maintaining desirable humidity levels should be easy in conditioned spaces. If you have a garage or other areas your air conditioner doesn’t reach, add ventilation to bring in cool drafts and push the moist air out. You can use a dehumidifier to remove moisture from the air more quickly.
Drain standing water. Any object or place where water can build up — like clogged gutters, toys, vases, fountains and depressions in the yard — can turn into a mosquito nursery.
Clean and Organize Your Space
Pests survive by hiding from larger animals, so finding them sheltering within clutter is not a coincidence. Messy areas allow insects and rodents to multiply without disturbance.
If you need motivation to keep your space spotless and organized, pest control should compel you to act. Implement a strict cleaning schedule and immediately put things where they belong to prevent clutter. Embrace minimalism — discard broken, duplicate, surplus and unnecessary items to make your life easier.
Pest-Proof Your Pets
Dogs and cats can carry unwanted hitchhikers from outside into your home. Be mindful of where you take them and their hygiene to ensure they’re bug-free.
Check their ears, armpits and groin to spot fleas and ticks — especially after spending time in parasite habitats like grassy areas or wooden surfaces. Wash your furry companions’ bedding regularly, and clean their favorite resting spots, such as rugs, carpets and furniture, to keep them and your space clean.
A Pest-Free Home Is a Stress-Free One
No two pests are the same, so controlling them can be an uphill battle. Follow these pieces of advice to make your home as inhospitable to these critters as possible.
