Homeowners know how difficult it can be to clean areas infested with pests. From the interior space to the outdoor areas, pests are capable of spreading very quickly. As a result, you may end up with damaged furniture and ruined gardens. Pests can pose a risk to your health, as well. You can handle some of these situations on your own, but on some other occasions, you’ll need to apply some ready-made products, or use professional help. Below you can find some useful tips on how to deal with pest situations that you shouldn't ignore.
1. Slugs and Snails After Rain
There are several garden works that are most efficient when done after the rain. For instance, cutting the grass with a scythe (yes, some people still do it), removing old roots, and pruning trees are some of these activities.
However, you’re not the only person aiming at the garden in those post-pluvial periods. Snails and slugs also like to emerge in gardens, bushes, and shrubs after the rainfall. Since crushing them is out of the question, you should get rid of them in other ways.
If there are only a few snails in the garden, collect them with your hands into a basket. For slugs, you can use a kitchen spatula to remove them from the ground and tree branches.
Prevention can also be efficient in the battle against slugs and snails. For instance, setting up lemon traps and attracting birds to your garden are some ways to remove snails from your garden.
2. Hidden Wasps and Beehives
In the period between June and September, many parts of the world are brimming with wasps, bees, and hornets. While these insects are important for the ecosystem, for some people, they can be fatal.
If somebody is allergic to a bee or wasp sting, they should have their gardens examined at the end of summer. That way, it’s possible to significantly reduce the risk of experiencing more serious issues with these pests.
When someone notices a swarm of wasps in the garden, they either have a hive somewhere in the garden or on the house.
If the wasp nest can be found, you can use a botanical wasp control product like Maggie's Farm Wasp & Hornet Killer to kill the nest.
However, if nests are hidden, homeowners and gardeners should not deal with this potentially dangerous situation alone.
In that case, calling a professional wasp removal service may be the best way of sorting out this issue.
The same goes for yellow jackets, as well.
But if you’re dealing with a bee problem, do not try to kill them as they’re beneficial insects. Try to find someone that can relocate them.
3. Box-Tree Caterpillars
Owners of gardens devoured by box-tree caterpillars know how barren gardens might look.
If you notice thick webs on and below your garden leaves, and tiny black balls, together with largely damaged leaves, it’s highly likely you have these caterpillars in your garden.
No matter if you’re dealing with them alone or you’re going to call in professionals, here’s what you can do.
First and foremost, you can get a plant-based insecticide to get rid of box-tree caterpillars. Such agents are based on natural ingredients and don't contain any harmful chemicals.
If that doesn’t work, there are affordable traps for box tree caterpillars. You can install them around the garden and wait to see whether this will reduce the number of these pests and the damage they make.
The most natural way of removing them from your garden is hand-picking, but this is a time-consuming procedure, plus, it’s not for everyone.
4. Birds Causing Harm
We usually perceive birds as animals that don’t affect our everyday lives in a negative way.
However, birds can do serious harm to trees and plants in the garden.
Since most local birds are herbivores, these areas are like daily menus for robins, sparrows, and crows.
If you notice that birds are causing damage in your garden, you can start by making a bird scarecrow. This doesn’t cost a lot and it can solve the problem.
Another useful tip is to install one of the tailor-made devices for this purpose. Those devices come in the form of an owl or any other animal and emit sounds that repel birds.
If your trees aren’t too high, think about installing a safety net over the garden, as well.
5. Bugs Migrating to Home
Gardens are favorite hubs of bugs. While most of them perform various underground activities, there are some bugs that like to migrate to the house.
This is where things can get complicated.
For starters, homeowners and professional gardeners alike may pick up ticks in the garden. If there is one tick in the garden, there are probably more of them.
Since they like high grass, cutting the grass regularly will reduce the risk of further spawning of these pests.
Also, you might apply some anti-tick pesticides, but only go for natural ones, to keep the rest of the garden unaffected.
Pests and insects have their practical roles in this world. However, when they come in too large numbers to our gardens or homes, they become a problem. Having pests in the garden means that you can’t enjoy that area the way you want. That’s why you need to react at once and get rid of them as soon as possible. Hopefully, the tips shared in this article will help homeowners and gardeners clean their gardens of the pests above.
About the Author
Luqman Butter has been a pest control technician for over 20 years. He is passionate about solving people's pest and wildlife control problems through innovative, eco-friendly and humane methods. Luqman currently works for Pestend Pest Control. He believes that pest control is a science and feels that his function in his community is very important since he helps people live in peace without causing unnecessary harm to animals.