Tips For Proper Insect Control

One of the most difficult parts of home ownership is basic upkeep. People in generally dislike the idea of having to mow the yard, keep things neat and tidy, re-paint the house every few years, the list goes on and on. Many times, these things get put off as long as possible. It’s understandable how that happens. People are busy, and no one can devote the amount of time that’s necessary to making sure everything’s properly done.

However, one of the things you should never leave off is insect control. When you get one insect, you get dozens, if not hundreds. And while some insects are only a minor annoyance, many more of the most common insects can be downright disastrous. Luckily, if you’re willing to do a little bit of work, you can maintain proper insect control without having to worry about huge, sweeping renovations.

One of the first steps to proper insect control is to keep your lawn mowed. This is something many home owners have to do anyway, due to various neighborhood association rules and local laws. However, allowing your yard to get overgrown invites a number of insects to begin making nests. Once insects start nesting in your lawn, it doesn’t take very long before they start finding their way inside your house.

Another thing that you should do is get your house sprayed by a professional once a year. Hire a professional pest control expert, and they’ll come and make sure the nooks and crannies of your house are sprayed down with poison. This poison is specially formulated to not harm humans, but to ensure that bugs will die. This keeps insects such as ants and termites from nesting inside the small, unreachable corners of your home. It can also help ensure you won’t have a wasp problem.

Speaking of wasps, they tend to harm the house by building their nest along walls, up in rafters, and anywhere else they can hang. They’re often attracted by an abundance of their food source, which tends to be sugar. A good way to help avoid getting wasps near and around your house is to keep your trash cans cleaned out. Every so often, perhaps once a week, use your garden hose to spray out your trash can. This keeps food and liquids from getting caked into the can, which in turn keeps wasps and other insects from being drawn to it looking for food.

Lastly, try to make sure you don’t have any standing water near the outside of your home. Standing water is a breeding ground for mosquitoes, which carry all manner of diseases. Every so often, make sure you’re checking areas of your garden, your porch, your patio, and other spots near and around your house for any place where water may have pooled up after a good rain. Also, make sure to clean out your gutters regularly, because stopped up gutters can keep standing water pooled up quite easily.

At the end of the day, insect control is another important part of home ownership. You can’t put it off any more than you can put off tending the garden or mowing the lawn. It’s tempting to ignore the detail work necessary to ensure that you won’t have insects coming and going through your house, but in the long run it’s worth it. Not only will it keep your house from becoming damaged from ants and termites, but it will also keep you from having to deal with the annoyance of too many insects. It’s a win for everyone involved, even if it is a bit of extra work.