Think like a bug
- Learn about pest habitat and active periods for pests in your region
- Inspect to Identify the source of the presence of the pest
- Monitor your home and yard for pest activity
- Practice early management and eliminate the source of food/water/shelter attractive to potential pests
Apply barriers to the home
- Repair openings that let pests into the home, especially around utility lines (e.g. plumbing) and at the foundation
- Use well-fitted window screens and door sweeps
- Properly seal windows, doors, and garage doors
Total Home Pest Medium Protection Plan
- Protects your home against unwanted bugs, inside and out
- Kills ants, centipedes, cockroaches, crickets, spiders, and more
- Active ingredients include pyrethrin and canola oil
Limit habitat
- Dump standing water weekly to avoid mosquito breeding
- Keep the lawn, shrubs, and trees trimmed
- Fix any shady or wet problem areas in the yard, especially around the home
- Remove ground cover adjacent to the house
Tidy up the yard
- Pick up debris
- Clean your gutters regularly
- Keep firewood piles away from the house
Mosquito + Tick + Ant Pest Control Pack
- Protects your yard from unwanted insects like mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, ants, and more!
- Kills mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas on contact, prevents for up to 4 weeks
- Collapses ant mounds in 3-14 days
- Perfect for northeast and midwest homes
Keep the house clean
- Clean up spills as soon as they happen
- Sweep and vacuum regularly - be particularly vigilant around pet areas, kitchens, and garbage cans
- Store food in airtight containers
- Make sure trash makes it into the trash can, meaning don’t allow garbage to attract pests
Ventilate humid areas
- Reduce humidity in bathrooms, kitchens, basements, attics, and crawl spaces, by adding a dehumidifier, increasing ventilation, and using vapor barriers
Remove “bridges” to the home:
- Remove or trim ground cover so it is not touching the house
- Make sure there aren’t any branches touching the house
- Install a Vegetation Free Zone (VFZ) around the home to reduce moisture and harborage. VFZ’s are 1-2 feet wide and ideally, plantings should be a few feet out from the home.
Cited sources
- Frank, S., L. Bradley and K. Moore. North Carolina Extension Gardener Handbook North Carolina State Extension.
- Chapter 8. Integrated Pest Management (IPM).
- University of California IPM. Applying IPM in your home and landscape.
