Marshaling Your Forces Against Spring Pests

Winter is still here and many parts of the country are still dealing with snow and cold conditions but for other parts of the United States, spring is on the horizon. With the start of spring comes one dreaded word: pests. It doesn’t matter what part of the country you live in, pests are equal opportunity critters and they will strike anywhere, especially if you love working outside in your garden during the spring.

Ticks

Ticks are a very common pest that many home owners deal with once spring begins. They typically affect homes that are close to wooded areas but they can strike anywhere especially if you have pets.
There are several key things that you can do to protect your home against ticks:

• Mow your lawn frequently.

• Inspect your pets after every bath and make sure that they are wearing up to date flea and tick collars.

• Install a barrier or rocks or gravel between your house and any wooded area that may surround your home to help with pest control. This step will insure that rodents that carry ticks won’t be tempted to come into your yard.

Carpenter Bees

Bees are an important and vital part of any garden because, they help to pollinate plants but carpenter bees are the most annoying bee of all because, they bore themselves into exposed wood to raise their young. You can protect the exposed wood around your house like: your deck, windowsills, eaves or doors by applying a new coat of paint to these areas. It’s best to use a no-VOC brand of paint because; bees do not like wood that’s coated with this type of paint. If you don’t want to repaint the exposed wood around your house, you can protect those areas simply by applying a new coat of varnish.
Fighting back against garden pests is easy to do. As the weather warms up, make sure that you keep a watchful eye around your home and garden to stop garden pests from moving in.