Reducing Pests in your Yard this Fall

Fall is a great time to begin cleaning up from a year of enjoyment in your yard or garden and taking steps towards reducing pest. There are plants that are wearing out after a season of spectacular show and vibrant color. There may be patio furniture or other outdoor living equipment that you won’t want damaged by inclement weather as the seasons change.

There are a myriad number of leaves falling from your trees now, too.

While many of us are gearing up for Friday nights at the local football stadium cheering on your home team boys and girls, our little six- and eight-legged friends are also getting things ready for fall. Mosquitos are in overdrive, trying to lay eggs and ensure they survive to torment humanity and animals next year. Spiders are trying to find warm places to snuggle into for the coming winter. Even snakes are out searching for a place to lay their weary, slithery bodies in the cold nights ahead.

So, what can you do to keep these pests, and others, to a minimum in your yard this fall?

Reduce standing water, one of the most effective step in Reducing Pest.

While the mosquito populations go through their end of summer baby-boom, it is imperative that you reduce the likelihood of standing water in your yard, starting now. This includes reducing puddles on any furniture or other objects in your yard. Any standing water, as long as it is roughly larger than the diameter of a silver-dollar, could look like a nursery to a desperate mosquito-mommy. Ensure your irrigation system is properly calibrated to eliminate over-watering, and overturn any objects with puddles as you find them, especially after an afternoon rainstorm.

Store furniture and other items neatly.

There are lots of items we purchase for outdoor use, but we hate the thought of leaving them out through the fall and winter. To protect any of your outdoor living items, storing them away into a shed or your garage for the colder months is the easiest option. But you shouldn’t just pile them up in a corner of the shed or garage. This increases the likelihood that spiders would seek to build winter vacation homes in the pile. That jumble of corners, angles, and shadows would be perfect for a spider colony this winter. Stacking and storing your items neatly will reduce the likelihood that you would put your hand right into a mess of webs next spring, when you go to bring your outdoor living furnishings back outside.

Remove piles of leaves and debris quickly.

Raking – the pastime we all love to think about, but hate to actually do. Often, we rake the leaves into lovely piles, and then have fun flopping into them like a pile of scratchy pillows. The problem with leaving piles of leaves laying around your yard is these look like warm beds to snakes. And because snakes are masters of camoflauge, your inaugural fall belly flop could turn into that scene from the Indiana Jones movie…. You know the one I mean. Leave the leaf-play to the internet, and bag the leaves up as soon as you pile them, this is a huge step towards reducing pest. Any piles left for more than a few minutes could become a hazard to yourself and your family.