Do you know that your spring cleaning can make your yard and home more resistant to pest activity? It's true. Your spring cleaning efforts can remove attractants that make bugs and wildlife want to come into your yard and stay inside your home. Let's take a look at a few specific examples.

Trash

Let's start with an obvious one. You're probably aware that trash is an attractant for many pests. But you might not know the full extent of it.

Open trash lures flies to your property. When flies start buzzing around your trash, spiders encroach upon your property. Keeping trash covered reduces the population of both.
Some stinging insects are strongly attracted to open trash, like yellow jackets.
Many wild animals follow the scent of trash. When they come near to your home, they may decide to create a den or nest on your property.
Dirty insects, like cockroaches, will feed on rotting organic material in trash and also breed inside trash. This increases the potential for these dirty, harmful insects to get into your home and spread sickness.

Tip: Take some time to wash your exterior trash receptacles to remove the scent of rotting organic matter. Pick up and place all exterior trash in covered receptacles.

Clutter

If you have unnecessary clutter in your yard, the objects can be a catalyst for increased pest activity. Here are a few ways this can happen:

Spiders will use holes, cavities, and voids inside lawn clutter to establish webs to catch their prey. Harmful spiders, like the black widow and the brown recluse, can be particularly threatening.
Objects in your yard provide a hiding place for timid mice and cautious rats.
When an object sits on the ground, it creates a moist, shaded place that is ideal for moisture pests. Some moisture pests are wood-destroying insects that can damage your property.

Tip: If you don't need it in your yard, get rid of it or store it inside.

Vegetation

Every plant provides sustenance for living creatures. The more plants you have, the more living creatures you'll have around your home. But you might be surprised at how this works.

Stinging insects drink nectar from flowers.
Many insects suck the sap out of plants.
Some insects eat the honeydew excretions left by sap-eating insects. Carpenter ants love honeydew so much, they sometimes corral aphids and tend to them as a farmer might tend to milk-producing cows.
Mosquitoes need sugar more than they need blood. They get their sugar from the nectar of flowers, the sap of plants, and the honeydew left by insects that feed on plant sap. If you have lots of vegetation, you'll have lots of mosquitoes.
Wildlife like gophers and meadow voles will dine on many plants you wouldn't consider to be food.

Tip: Remove weeds and other unwanted vegetation to reduce this food source that promotes pest activity around your home.

Moisture

If you have a damp exterior, you'll have more problems with pests. Moisture plays a big role when it comes to pest problems. Here is a short list of pests that are attracted to dampness:

Termites
Carpenter ants
Silverfish
Cockroaches
Centipedes
Earwigs
Millipedes

Tip: Make sure cleaning your gutters is a part of your spring cleaning efforts. Trim tree branches to allow the sunlight into shaded areas.

Pest Control

Your spring cleaning efforts have a big impact on pest activity. Do you know what else can have a big impact on pests? Routine visits from one of our licensed pest management professionals. Pests can present a threat to your health and property. We can help you reduce this threat with ongoing pest management. Contact us today to learn more or to schedule service. We look forward to meeting you.

Schedule Your Free Inspection

Complete the form below to schedule your no-obligation inspection.