4 Easy Ways To Keep Your Landscape Pest-Free

With dropping temperatures, you’ve probably noticed a decrease of pest activity in your landscape. However, spring is just around the corner. As the air gets warmer, pests will begin to find their way back into your lawn, garden, and foliage. After all, the yard is one of the first places homeowners notice they have a pest problem. Common outdoor pests include:

– Ants
– Aphids
– Carpenter Ants
– Earwigs
– Fleas
– Flies
– Grasshoppers
– Mosquitoes
– Slugs
– Snails
– Ticks
– Yellow Jackets

However, while all these pests can be harmful to your landscape, you can’t just grab a gallon of pesticide and start spraying. A healthy landscape is full of helpful insects. Using harmful pesticide not only harms beneficial insects and animals, but it can also damage your landscape as well. Do yourself and your landscape a favor by doing your research before you start using any type of pest control methods.

Keep in mind, the best way to get rid of pests is by not having any in the first place. Pest prevention is one of the smartest things you can do to keep your landscape healthy without wearing yourself out. Thankfully, you can get a head start on pest control this winter season. Here’s four easy ways to keep your landscape pest-free.

1.) Add Pest Repellent Plants To Your Landscape

Fight back against pests with the power of nature. One of the best ways you can naturally keep pests out of your garden is by adding plants that automatically resist or repel pests. For example, adding petunias to your landscape will help repel aphids. Adding lavender in your backyard will help keep out mosquitoes, flies, and moths during the summer. There are many options to choose from. If you need a little help choosing which plants to add to your landscape, reach out to your local nursery or landscaping company for some expert advice.

You can even take things a step further by planting specific pairs of plants together. For example, you can protect your vulnerable tomato plants by planting oregano and basil close by. Furthermore, you’ll get the added bonus of having three ingredients that all complement each other in meals.

2.) Add Coffee Grounds To Your Garden

Not only do coffee grounds make soil nitrogen rich, they’re also great for driving away pests that hate the smell or taste of coffee. If you’ve had slug problems in the past, you’ll want to get some coffee grounds right away. Slugs can’t stand coffee grounds. Sprinkle some within your garden and around its perimeter to keep those slimy invaders off of your vegetables and flowers.

If you’re a daily coffee drinker, simply store your grounds in an air tight container until you have enough to mix into your garden soil. Not a big coffee fan yourself? No problem! Visit your local Starbucks to inquire about their leftover coffee grounds. Starbucks is well known for giving away their mounds of leftover coffee grounds to patrons who are in need of a little composting boost.

3.) Keep Up With Your Landscape Maintenance

Doing something as simple as keeping your grass short can do wonders for keeping pests like rodents away. Rodents are some of the worst pests your landscape can have. Not only do they eat all of your vegetables, but they also carry dangerous pathogens that can lead to serious illnesses. It’s in your best interest to keep your yard as rodent-free as possible.

Like many living creatures, rodents require food and shelter to survive. There’s nothing rodents love more than finding tall, unkempt grass to nest in. If you don’t have time to mow your lawn, hire a professional landscaper to get the job done for you. After all, you don’t want to make the costly mistake of waiting until it’s too late to keep the rats away.

4.) Get Professional Landscaping Help

If you’re struggling to keep pests out of your yard, it may be time to give the professionals a call. Local professional landscapers have the experience and knowledge needed to effectively create a system to keep pests of all sizes off of your property. This could mean installing a sturdy, yet ascetically pleasing, fence along your property line to keep out deer. Or, it could be something as easy as spraying environmentally-frienldy pest controls in your yard’s problem area.

If you already have a landscape maintenance team, bring your pest concerns to their attention. Your landscapers will make it their priority to keep your landscape healthy and pest-free all year long.

If you live along the Central Coast or in Santa Cruz Country, reach out to K&D Landscaping, Inc. This reliable, family-owned landscaping company has been keeping their client’s landscapes pest-free for years. If you’re looking for expert help, give them a call at (831)278-8855.