An expansive, green backyard is always a welcome sight in every home. Aside from pleasing the eyes, it also offers a wide range of practical benefits. Healthwise, outdoors can strengthen the immune system and improve sleep quality and well-being. In terms of gardening and lifestyle, a well-tilled garden can accommodate several flowering plants, grow fruit-bearing trees, and attract insects such as butterflies and honey bees.
However, an outdoor space not only attracts helpful insects but can also invite less desirable critters. Worse, disease-carrying animals and other pests may invade your home if uncontrolled. In this article, discover five proven ways to get a pest-free outdoor space you can enjoy.
What Are the Most Common Outdoor Pests?
Common outdoor pests include categories of aphids, thrips, and slugs. However, these can harm your home’s plant population and your health. These insects feed on plant parts and their saps, reducing foliage and possibly stunting growth. Some ant varieties, such as leafcutter and carpenter ants, deal significant plant and tree damage when allowed to thrive in gardens.
Other pests in mosquitoes and larger ones like mice and rats can be significant to your health. These pests carry disease-causing bacteria in their body fluids, which they can transmit through bites or you coming into contact with their fluids.
Tips for a Pest-free Outdoor Space
Having a pest-free outdoor space is essential for enjoying the beauty of nature without the nuisance of insects and other unwanted creatures. These tips will help you create a pleasant and pest-free backyard, from practicing proper sanitation to utilizing natural repellents.
Select Pest-Repelling Plants
To cultivate a pest-free outdoor space, incorporate pest-repelling plants into your landscape. These pest-resistant plants discourage pests from entering your area while livening up your backyard.
In addition to enriching the flavor of your favorite dishes, herbs such as basil and chives emit intense aromas that keep pests at bay. Basil, in particular, produces compounds that disorient mosquitoes and prevent them from identifying potential meals. You can also use basil to deter mosquitoes from laying eggs in stagnant water.
Flowers such as chrysanthemums and marigolds give off a smell that repels pests. You can also use certain flower varieties as natural insecticides. For example, marigolds contain compounds inhibiting nematode eggs when planted together with crops. Chrysanthemums secrete pyrethrin, a chemical compound toxic to insects and targeting their nervous system.
Keep Your Plants Healthy
Plants employ a unique defense system against pests and pathogens. Keeping your plants healthy maximizes the efficiency of this mechanism and helps you repel pests naturally.
Start by planting them in healthy soil and maintaining the soil condition. The state of your soil influences the flow of air and water to your plants and enables the proper absorption of needed nutrients. Mix fully composted organic matter such as humus to keep your soil healthy. Humus contains high nutrient levels, retains moisture, and gives the soil a crumbly texture that allows air to pass through.
Add a layer of mulch to protect your soil from erosion. Mulch can be organic, such as bark, grass clippings, and leaves, or inorganic, such as plastic covers or bricks. Aside from preventing erosion, mulching also helps conserve moisture in the soil, inhibits weed growth and the spread of plant diseases, and regulates soil temperature to optimal levels.
Next, ensure that the planting site lets your plants receive the appropriate amount of sunlight, which they need to create energy in a process called photosynthesis. Identify the right amount of sun per plant to lay out your garden accordingly.
Don’t forget to water your plants regularly! In watering your plants, direct the water flow directly to the base of the plants. Doing so encourages moisture retention since the water goes straight to the soil and the roots. Moreover, it prevents fungal diseases that generally start in wet parts of the plant.
Clean and Maintain Your Garden Regularly
Photo by David Brown from Pexels
Another way to achieve a pest-free outdoor space is to clean and maintain your garden regularly. Aside from improving the look of your outdoor scenery, a clean and well-maintained backyard prevents pests from finding nesting spots on your property. Trimming bushes and hedges and sweeping fallen leaves eliminates potential hiding spots for pests.
Pests flock to areas with possible food sources, such as fallen fruits and other biodegradable waste. Ensuring the proper disposal and management of garbage reduces these food sources and keeps them away from your property. If you have outdoor garbage bins, tightly seal them with durable lids to prevent larger animals from opening them.
Additionally, inspect your backyard regularly for stagnated water from rain or excess water from irrigation activities. Eliminating pools of stagnant water prevents mosquitoes from breeding since it is where they usually lay their eggs.
Use Pest Repellents and Physical Barriers
You can apply pest repellents throughout the area to deter pests from entering your property. Several pest-repellent solutions are available in the market today, and you may choose the one that targets the type of pest commonly seen in your home. Alternatively, you can create your solution if you prefer a more natural solution. Typical ingredients of homemade pest-repellent solutions include soap and essential oils with a strong aroma that repels pests.
Another way to prevent pests from harming your plants is to separate them using physical barriers such as row covers, mesh netting, and plant cages.
Hire a Professional Pest Control Service
Preventing a pest infestation is the best way to control pests. However, there are cases when pests manage to get past preventive measures, or there may already be pest infestations on your property. For these cases, look for a professional pest control service to help eliminate these unwelcome guests in your outdoor area.
Professional exterminators’ service saves you time and effort in dealing with pest infestation. Your service provider may offer follow-up schedules to prevent reinfestation so you can stay on your property with peace of mind.
Begin Your Journey to a Pest-free Environment
Understanding common outdoor pests and taking proactive measures to control their population can turn your outdoor space into an inviting and relaxing area free from unwanted pests.
For more information on pest control, check out these resources.