Love to eat outside on a summer night, but hate the feeling that you’re crawling with bugs? You may think there’s nothing you can do, but taking some proactive steps now can keep the outdoor pests in check all summer long. Follow these tips to eliminate bugs, like cockroaches and silverfish, from your deck or patio. A big added bonus: pest-proofing the perimeter of your house will also help keep the little buggers (pun intended) away from your interior as well.
Get Rid of Standing Water
You’ve probably heard this tip before, but it bears repeating: eliminate standing water if you don’t want mosquitoes biting. Mosquitoes lay their eggs in stagnant water, so even a watering can that has collected rainwater can quickly become a bug breeding ground.
Set up a Bug Barrier
If your porch or patio is crawling with bugs, you can pay a professional pest control service to spray the perimeter, or try doing it yourself. Whatever you choose to do, any product you buy should state on the label that it works against ants, cockroaches, silverfish, fleas, ticks, and more, so you can entertain outdoors without worrying about uninvited guests. Spray around your porch, along screen doors, and near the edge of your deck to help pest-proof not only your outdoor space but the inside of your home as well. Safety Tip: read and follow all label instructions to ensure you use them safely and keep any pesticide out of reach from pets and children.
Cut Down the Brush
If you’ve ever taken a hike through tall grasses, you may have taken care to protect yourself from ticks and bugs by wearing long pants, sock, and closed shoes. The same concept applies to your backyard—tall grasses can attract ticks, fleas, and mosquitoes. Keep your lawn cut to the recommended 3-inch height, and dispose of cut brush rather than letting it sit in the yard.
Light Some Citronella Candles
Not only is citronella a nostalgic smell of summer for many, but this natural oil can help ward off mosquitoes. If dining outdoors, place a couple citronella candles as a centerpiece on the table, then arrange a few more around the perimeter of the sitting area.
Build a Birdhouse
Another way to reduce the bug population in your backyard? Introduce more of their natural predators. Buying or building a birdhouse or setting up a birdbath will invite more birds to your backyard. Not only will they provide hours of bird-watching entertainment, but they will dine on the ants, moths, and aphids in your yard while they’re there.
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