Keeping Bugs Out of Your Back Yard - The Natural Way is Usually the Best

Keeping Bugs Out of Your Back Yard - The Natural Way is Usually the Best

Here are some common sense tips you can use to keep some common insects away from your yard. Most of these tips do not require the purchase of chemicals of fancy equipment. These are practical tips that you can try, and are often as effective as chemical solutions. Thus, they can replace or can at least be used in conjunction with commercial bug killing methods.

Let's start with one of the peskiest pests - mosquitoes. Mosquitoes can turn an otherwise tranquil evening in your yard into an itchy nightmare full of pin prick twinges and aggravated swatting. What can you do to reduce the presence of these swarming dive bombers in your yard and life? You should start by getting rid of the habitats in which mosquitoes thrive and to which they are attracted. One of the major lures for mosquitoes, and insects in general, is plain old water. Mosquito larvae breed in standing water. Thus a major step toward getting rid of your mosquito problem is to get rid of water that's been sitting around. Dump out bird baths, old tires, coffee cups left on tables in the rain - anything and everything that has standing water in it. You can even shake out cupped leaves on plants and trees.

Damp shady areas such as the space under decks and porches are another mosquito breeder. You can sprinkle sand in these areas to dry them out. Don't overlook any place damp and hidden from sunlight as a potential mosquito nursery.

This is fine if you can dump the water out, but what if you can't such as in the case of swimming pools and fish ponds? BT (bacillus thuringiensus) is a naturally occurring bacteria that kills mosquito larvae. It is, however, harmless to humans, which puts you in a good position. It can be sprinkled into pools and ponds to kill any larvae that may be underway.

If you want to get even fancier you can put top feeding minnows called Mosquito Fish into pools - mosquitoes are their favorite dish.

By the way, forget the ultraviolet bug electrocutor. Studies have shown that these devices have virtually no effect on mosquito populations and end up killing all kinds of beneficial insects as well while they pop and zap through the evening. Save your money for something more worthwhile.

Termites are another big problem. Again, water attracts these insects, so get rid of it any way you can. Follow essentially the same steps as in the case of mosquitoes above, with the added emphasis on channeling water from gutters as far away from the house as possible.

The next item to consider concerning termites is wood. Remove old stumps, logs, and other unnecessary wood in your yard and you'll go a long way toward getting rid of these little buggers.

Most decks and outdoor wooden construction is made of pressure treated or at least painted wood, but if you do choose to build or put furniture on your deck that doesn't fit this description, there are types of wood that are less attractive to termites. These include juniper, redwood, and cedar. Use these when possible. Failing all this there are effective termite sprays and poisons that you can use and which are available at all kinds of retail stores.

What about bees and wasps? In order to encourage these insects to look elsewhere for a home, yard clean up is a good place to start. Bees and wasps are attracted to garbage and sweet items. So clean up your yard, certainly of trash. In fact, this is a good insect deterrent in general - cleaning up your yard reveals potential breeding spots and gets rid of insect attracting items that may have escaped your notice.

The next step is to get rid of bee and wasp nests. This is one case where you may have to bring in the spray. However if you use a long pole and some protective clothing, you may be able to dislodge nests from a distance and then dispose of it without any chemical assistance. If in doubt though, just spray the nest and then, wearing gloves, pull it down and throw it away.

Here's an innovative trick: after getting rid of the nests, put fake nests up. Bees and wasps avoid other colonies of the same species and if they see these nests they will look elsewhere for a place to build.

Finally we come to ants. The way to 86 these guys is to find ant colonies (ant hills) and destroy them. There are a number of ways to do this. You can pour boiling water (about 3 gallons) on anthills, put water and citrus peels in a blender and dump the slurry on the mound, or even pour strong mint tea on it - mint is poisonous to ants.

In addition, ants can't stand either cinnamon or black pepper. So sprinkling this in spots where you don't want them is a good strategy. You can sprinkle one or both of these items around the picnic table in your back yard, on the lawn generally, or even in the mounds themselves. Ants will go out of their way to avoid the sprinkled areas.

These and whatever other natural and common sense approaches you may come across are definitely a good and inexpensive place to begin dealing with your insect problems. Try these methods first, and if you feel you need to up the assault on the bugs then try chemicals and sprays. With some good old applied knowledge and practicality you can send a good portion of the bugs packing.

For more information on keeping insects and other pests off your property, visitDeerBusters.com. Also check out theInsect Control section for some great products.

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