[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]During the winter season, you may not worry much about the many potentially aggressive critters that would like to enjoy the hospitality of your
home and garden. However, as we move into the
summer months, this can become an escalating problem, especially for families that like to relax, dine, play and
entertain in both their home and garden spaces, often referred to as indoor-outdoor living.
While this indoor-outdoor approach is healthy for many reasons, it can lose a bit of its allure if insects and other disruptive critters start taking over, disturbing your serenity, and even causing stings or bites to family and friends. Some households might address the problem by applying synthetic pesticides, and/or insecticides to their home and garden areas. And indeed, such products were once lauded as technological miracles for eliminating insects and other unwelcome intruders.
However, we now better understand the long-term effects of chemical-based pesticides and the grave threat they pose to the environment, contaminating our waters, our soils, other living creatures
and our own bodies. Wellness-conscious people who prefer to avoid such toxins may wonder how to tackle the problem of disruptive critters on their property. Why not let nature come to the rescue? Check out these safe, beneficial solutions.
Non-Toxic Pest Control Ideas
Clean spaces
In your home,
sweep your kitchen and dining areas daily to keep crumbs and other food particles at bay, which invite rats, mice, cockroaches and more. In the garden, minimize clutter that offers a cozy habitat for rodents, spiders, wasps and many other insects. Rake dead leaves, keep trees and shrubs pruned, and regularly clear yard debris, such as fruit that falls from trees, grass clippings, etc.
Sprinkle salt
Something as elemental as
sea salt can help prevent and eradicate a problem often associated with dog and/or cat comrades:
fleas! The best defense is a good offense. Sprinkle salt on your floors, carpeted areas, couches and anywhere else fleas lay eggs, and leave it for a few days before vacuuming and/or brushing it out.
Salt has a dehydrating effect on both adult fleas and larvae, but this can take a few rounds, given the three-day reproduction cycle of fleas.
Use essential oils
To help keep your home and garden pest-free, simply add your favorite oils to a 50/50 mix of water and vodka in a spray bottle for easy misting.
Cinnamon bark oil can help to eradicate dust mites in bedding, carpeted areas, etc.
Neem oil can deter mosquitos, aphids and other garden bugs.
Citronella oil repels many stinging, biting insects, and
lavender oil, which contains a non-toxic compound called linalool, is a beautifully fragrant deterrent against mosquitoes, ticks, spiders, ants and fleas. Also, this
lemon-eucalyptus oil pairs two pest-chasing solutions in one product.
Invite friendly insects
Providing a natural habitat for beneficial critters not only diversifies your landscape, it can also help deter a myriad of unwelcome pests. According to the Farmer’s Almanac, key garden allies include pollinators like bees, butterflies, flies and moths as well as predator insects, such as ladybugs, praying mantids, and green lacewing larvae, which
eliminate pests by eating them.
Spray lemon juice
As spiders dislike citrus, lemon juice a great tool in helping to discourage them in your living spaces. Simply mix fresh/strained or
prepared lemon juice with water in a spray bottle to apply to countertops, window ledges, dark nooks and crannies, behind beds, etc.
Lemon oil works beautifully too. Spritz these areas weekly to stay arachnid-free!
Scatter kitchen scraps in the garden
Along with lemon juice to reduce your risk of spiders in the house, you can also use peels from lemons, oranges and limes in your garden. How about that ant problem? Cucumber slices to the rescue! As it happens, ants find them repellent. Additionally, banana peels help repel aphids, coffee grounds work well as garden mulch to ward off cats, rabbit and squirrels, and crushed eggshells discourage slugs and snails.
Try boric acid
This natural compound is useful in combatting a wide variety of home and garden pests, including spiders, cockroaches, mice, ants, mites, algae, molds, fungi, weeds and more.
According to entomologists, when an insect consumes the boric acid, it goes back to its nest and spreads it to its cronies, maximizing the effectiveness.
Incorporate redwood and cedar
Both of these aromatic woods contain oils that repel insects naturally. Try placing chips or blocks of either one around your home to discourage clothing-destroying moths and other intrusive bugs. You can also mix
cedar oil into a 50/50 blend of water and vodka to mist closets and other contained spaces.
Feel free to try any of these natural pest control tips that seem applicable in your efforts to cultivate a safe and serene home and garden. You might enjoy crafting your own blends, or prefer the convenience of products like this multi-tasking
orange-infused pest control spray, this natural
insect repellent or these safe, grab-and-go
Buzz Off wipes, among other eco-smart products. Clearly, your options abound. Go forth and enjoy your summer –
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