Natural, Inexpensive DIY Ways to Keep Pests Away
The first step towards preventing an infestation from taking over your home is defensive protection! Residents of Jacksonville, Florida are especially susceptible to invading pests like the American cockroach and banded garden spiders. Preventing these insects from getting inside your home doesn’t always have to involve using chemicals. Explore our list of natural and inexpensive DIY measures that can help deter pests from entering your home below!
1. Keep A Clean Kitchen!
Leaving open containers and food out on your counters for prolonged periods of time is an open invitation for ants, gnats, and cockroaches. Putting food away after you’re done and keeping a clean kitchen is an easy, proactive measure that goes a long way.
2. Get Rid of Standing Water
An improper draining system or pools of water sitting near your home are the perfect breeding conditions for mosquitoes. Fill in puddles with dirt to help reduce the number of mosquitoes directly living on your property. Floridians should be especially careful of this!
3. Use Peppercorn in the Closet
Repel moths by using peppercorn instead of mothballs to protect your closets. Leave some in a small dish and place in a safe, out-of-the-way place to keep moths from eating away at your clothes!
4. Dried Tansy Leaf
Hate dealing with spiders? So do we! Get some dried tansy leaf from your local herb or grocery store and keep it in a sock or some pantyhose. Place it underneath your beds or furniture to proactively keep spiders out!
5. Garlic: Minced or Clove
Ants are repelled by garlic. Place your garlic outside near entry points to your home and even in the yard nearby. Mix it with water too and spray around the outside too for double the protection. The more, the better!
6. Catnip - Not Just For Cats Anymore!
Catnip is an all-natural cockroach repellent. Boil some catnip in water and spray on your baseboards toward these annoying pests away.
7. Go Big With A Bat House!
Okay, this one might be a bit of a stretch, but bats love to eat mosquitoes and have been estimated to eat at least 1000 mosquitoes per day. This is the ultimate solution if you’re serious about a mosquito-free home.
8. Planters of Mint and Basil at Your Doorway
Lots of bugs don’t like the smell of herbs and will stay away from them if they sense them. Keep big planters of herbs like mint, basil, and sage near your doorways to keep these pests at bay.
Defensive protection of your home only works until you’re faced with a severe infestation. At that point, you should consider calling in a team of qualified professionals to help with the job. Here At Paul’s Termite and Pest Control, we can help. We'll assess your infestation and come up with a treatment plan that not only gets rid of all existing bugs, but prevents future ones from coming back.
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