Having a garden, a lawn, a swimming pool and a patio in the house is nothing but sheer luxury. However, along with this luxury comes a host of pests! Let’s share some time-tested outdoor pest control tips to make your outdoor space relatively pest-free so that the time you spend experiencing these luxuries becomes pleasantly memorable ones.
Just sample this … you’ve managed to buy your dream house, which has a plethora of space on all four sides. Open spaces always bring in a lot of positivity. It is usually the getaway for the dwellers of any home. During the leisure time, every individual love to laze around near the pool or simply enjoy the cool breeze in the garden, but wait! The gardens, pools and patio are also thronged by ‘uninvited guests. Whether you like it or not, the fact is that the exterior and the surroundings of your home are occupied by scores of insects like ants, bees, yellow jackets, wasps, flies, and mosquitoes. There are also winged guests living here. There are rodents and cats too straying in! So, how do you make sure your exterior spaces are free from such ‘uninvited’ guests!
Gharpedia brings you a few cues to solve your outdoor pest control problems for your home.
Outdoor Pest Control Tips
Here, we share some amazing outdoor pest control tips to keep pests away from your backyard or garden and make your place pest-free. We enlist some common question that repeatedly comes to your mind like,
- How to Get Rid of Small Ants?
- How to Get Rid of Bees, Yellow Jackets and Wasps?
- How to Get Rid of Cats?
- How to Get Rid of Flies?
- How to Get Rid of Mosquitoes?
- How to Get Rid of Pigeons?
- How to Get Rid of Mice/Rodents?
Let’s know your question’s answer…
01. How to Get Rid of Small Ants?
Ants can be very annoying, especially in outdoor spaces. But no worry, we have the best outdoor ant control tips. Place the legs of your picnic table in paper cups that are filled halfway with water. Ants can’t swim! If they crawl up the sides of the cup, they will fall into the water, and it will be no picnic for those ants.
Like ants, cockroaches can also be very annoying. Even more annoying than ants. And keeping this point in mind, here are some tips to Get Rid of Cockroaches.
02. How to Get Rid of Bees, Yellow Jackets and Wasps?
- Put your yellow jacket away to keep yellow jackets away. We’re serious! These flying stingers are attracted to bright, warm colours such as yellows, oranges and reds. Instead,use a pale pastel colour scheme at your next outdoor shindig – perhaps a soft blue or green for the plates, napkins and tablecloth – and wear an outfit to match.
- Set your table with several fabric-softener sheets. They will keep away bees and yellow jackets as well as ants. Isn’t this pest control method easy-peasy?
- Sculpt a sandwich-size brown paper bag into the shape of a beehive and hang it somewhere along the air path outside your house where bees and wasps travel. The bag would mislead the flying pests into thinking that there is already a hive on your property. The theory is that bees and wasps avoid hives that are not their own. They do not want to be confrontational because it would turn into war. If the bag needs help keeping its shape, fill it with polystyrene packing peanuts, or blow up a balloon and put it in the bag.
Bees and yellow jackets are still temporary guests, but many other pests have permanent residence in your garden. Please read our blog 10 Easy Ways to Control Common Garden Pests! to keep such pests away from your garden.
03. How to Get Rid of Cats?
You can prevent cats from using a children’s sandbox as their outdoor litter box – just pour distilled white vinegar around the box every month or so.
04. How to Get Rid of Flies?
White vinegar is the best fly repellent for outdoors. Pour distilled white vinegar around the sides of the pool and it should help keep flies from hanging around. The smell of vinegar will disappear in no time.
05. How to Get Rid of Mosquitoes?
A popular mosquito repellent is the mosquito coil. The coiled clay-like material sits on a stand and is burned. It releases a pleasant odour that repels flying pests. Each coil burns for about two hours. However, one thing to note is that many of them contain a potent lung carcinogen.
You may be better off with a couple of harmless mosquito bites … or you may want to try some natural ways to deal with those little buggers –
- Drink two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water. The smell of vinegar emitted in your normal perspiration will repel the mosquitoes whose sense of smell is definitely better than ours!
- Lavender oil works well as an outdoor mosquito repellent. Dab one or two drops of lavender oil (available at health food stores) on pulse points – including the inside of your wrists, inside your elbows, behind your ears and in the back of your knees – when you know you’re going to be in a wet, marshy or mosquito-infested area. The oil is a great repellent – and it also makes a lovely perfume.
- Since mosquitoes enjoy taking up residence on top of tall weeds and grass, give your lawn and yard a crew cut. So, keep it trimmed down, especially for outdoor mosquito control during mosquito season.
- Mosquitoes lay eggs in standing water such as in open rain barrels, wheelbarrows, birdbaths and kiddie pools. To prevent mosquitoes from breeding, put two tablespoons of olive water in the water.
- One foolproof outdoor mosquito control tip is to dump any standing water- especially in overturned garbage lids, and avoid attracting mosquitoes.
06. How to Get Rid of Pigeons?
Their droppings deface and hasten the deterioration of statues and walkways; mar windowsills and terraces, and make fire escapes dangerous. Pigeons’ nests, along with their droppings can clog drain pipes and air vents. Pigeons are also known to carry or transmit diseases. So how does one block their entry? Elementary dear Watson!
Glop up the pigeons’ landing strip – the railing or ledge of your terrace, balcony or patio – with petroleum jelly or powdered chalk. Those substances should make it uncomfortable for them and with any luck, they will fly away … never to return.
07. How to Get Rid of Mice/Rodents?
- Use steel wool to plug up every big and small hole that leads into your home (or any structure on your property). Stuff steel wool in all the cracks around gas and water pipes and around electrical outlets, even in the hole for your TV cable lines. Rodents do not like to chew through steel wool.
- Mice hate the smell of peppermint. Put a few drops of peppermint oil (available at health food stores) on cotton balls and place them wherever you think the critters may visit – the garage, workshop, storage shed, porch etc. This is also a good reason to have mint plants planted in and around your home.
- Do you know what scent will keep rats away? If not, then know it’s the scent of the cat’s urine. So, if you have a cat, put some of his/her litter in plastic containers. Put the containers wherever you suspect the mice will play when the cat’s away! The scent of the cat’s urine should make the mice run for their lives.
- Another best outdoor rodent pest control tip is the use of baking soda… Baking soda is a good rodent repellent. Sprinkle baking soda liberally around your property and garage.
- If you have greenery that’s attracting mice here’s a solution that will repel them–add half cup of non-detergent soap powder and one tablespoon of Tabasco sauce in one-gallon water. Mix it well and then pour some of the solution into a spray bottle. Generously spray the tops and undersides of the leaves that are a magnet for mice and the problem should disappear along with the mice.
Important Points
01. First used in 1882, oil of citronella is the classic mosquito repellent. Most popular in candle form, the citronella creates fumes that will repel mosquitoes – but only if they fly within the fumed air space. As the candles’ smoke emissions are not evenly spread out some of the mosquitoes are bound to get through.
02. When you’re having a picnic, barbecue or any other kind of outdoor gathering, put portable, battery-powered fans around the area (at least two). Place one facing the centre of the party and one aimed at the food table. The fans will keep flying insects such as mosquitoes, bees, wasps, flies and gnats away while keeping your guests cool.
03. Baking soda is the best option for DIY pest control. Although baking soda is generally safe for house pest control, it’s better to keep kids and pets away from the area where you sprinkle the same.
Hopefully, these outdoor pest control tips will help you. And the next time you host a barbecue in your backyard, you are not embarrassed by the mosquito sweeping down to sample the blood of your cherished guest or an inquisitive rat nosing the tandoori chicken or worse, a fly swimming in their glass of grape juice!
We have some blogs on house pest control that will help you one or another way. And you will surely like to go through the below blogs because these annoying pests directly affect your and your loved one’s health.
Make Your Home Termite Free with these Termite Prevention Tips!
Author Bio
Huta Raval – An English Literature and Journalism Topper, Huta Raval has graduated from the L D Arts College, Ahmedabad. Post serving for 23 years in the NBFC and Public Library Sectors her desire for ‘writing the unwritten’ brought her to the creative field of content writing. Her clientele comprises of NGOs, Blogging Platforms, Newspapers, Academic Institutions, et al.