Houses and Pests Don’t Mix

When it comes to getting rid of pests there are many options. Here are some tips from pest control contractors that work and will prevent them from returning to your home:

1. Sort Garbage Properly: Rinse cans and bottles for recycling and place compostables in a sealed bag. This removes dome food and breeding areas. All garbage should be placed in sealed containers.
2. Clean Cupboards: Remove everything from your cupboards and clean with an antibacterial soap. This will also remove food and breeding areas.
3. Store Food Properly: Put flour, rice, pasta and all other perishables in sealed containers. Avoid spilling when closing the lids.
4. Seal Cracks and Screens: Anything that light will shine through pests can get in too.
5. Control Lights: Lights attract all insects. Put them on a motion detector with a timer. This way they will come on only when needed and insects will not congregate.
6. Eliminate Dampness: Insects, mold and rot will inhabit any area of continued moisture. Your nose will be a great indicator of this. Remove rotted wood and replace with the pressure-treated kind.
7. Regular Vacuuming: This will get at any insect nests and eggs and will prevent a build up of food for them.
8. Sticky Traps: These work well for mice and insects. Place them in areas where pests are seen.

When it comes to getting rid of pests and keeping them out the saying, “Cleanliness is next to Godliness,” is the truth.

Organic Lawn Care

One of the buzz phrases for promoting organic treatment of the yard was the line from an advertisement that said, “Is your lawn on drugs?” In other words, the long years of fertilizers have made your grass addicted to the chemicals which are supposed to help the yield and increase beauty.

Your Lawn on Drugs

It is true that lush, green, uniformly-bladed lawn is accomplished with various chemicals, many brands of which we know as well as the brand of laundry detergent we use. However, what has happened to your lawn over time is the slow leaching of nutrients from the oil. In other words, it would be like living off fast food restaurants – it is very possible to live off the food but your long-term health and immune system can be damaged by the constant diet of fat the effects of frying.

Lawn can be affected in much the same way. Fertilizers and pesticides destroy good organisms that give off nutrients that nourishes the grass, weakening its growth or increasing harmful thatch. When lawn is over-thatched, insects begin to multiply and disease sets in.

Organic Solutions

Let’s face the facts: your lawn may never be the verdant-green, uniform-blade turf that is found in the pictures on bags of fertilizer. But this is artificial. Clover and other plant-life do not hurt the lawn but rather work in symbiosis with the grass. Composted sheep manure can be raked into the lawn in the spring after aeration and this works as a great feed.

As for pest control, try corn gluten. It can control crabgrass, creeping bentgrass, smart weed, dandelions, redroot bigweed, purslane, lambs quarter, foxtail and barnyard grass. Grubs can be destroyed using simple nematodes, micro-organisms in the soil. Once released, the nematodes enter the insect’s body where they secret a toxin. the grub dies within 48 hours.

And if you have a smaller lawn try a push mower. There will be no more lawn mower to repair or electric cord to avoid running over.

For more information on how to have a chemical-free lawn and garden contact Renovation Experts.