7 Ways to Be Bug-Free This Season

Summer is a wonderful time of year for playing outside, but it’s also the time for bugs. Here are some ways to be bug-free this season.

Although insects are necessary and part of the food chain for smaller animals, they can be problematic and a serious nuisance when they get into your home or invade your backyard space. If you want to keep your space free of bugs all summer long, you need to use some bug spray outside but you also need to take some steps to keep bugs out of your home.

Here are several ways to be bug-free this season.

Keep your kitchen clean

Many of the most annoying bugs are attracted to food. This means you need to make sure the area of your home in which food resides is clean. A clean kitchen helps prevent bugs such as roaches and ants from getting in and becoming a problem. Its important to wipe down counters and tables after your meals and mop the floors regularly to ensure bugs will stay away from your home.

Soapy water is your friend

When you see roaches or crickets on your counters, walls, or other surfaces, you should spray them with soapy water. These insects breath through the surfaces of their bodies, which means the soapy water suffocates them. A great way to be bug-free this season is to stop the bugs in their tracks and use the cleaning products you enjoy against them. Spray that soapy water directly on the bugs and around the doors and windows to prevent them from entering your home.

Keep the fruit flies away

Summer is a time of fresh fruit, which we often leave on our counters until eaten. Unfortunately, this fruit can attract fruit flies when it becomes overripe. There is a way to keep these files away that you can put together at home. Fill a bowl with water and dish soap and float a smaller bowl or bottle cap filled with red-wine vinegar in the center. The fruit flies are attracted to the vinegar and will stick to the soapy water and die. Make sure the water has bubbles for the flies to stick to.

Remove standing water and puddles

If your yard has a low spot where water sits for days after it rains, this is a recipe for mosquitoes to breed and hatch. Another problematic area is anywhere you have standing water. This means bird baths, child and dog pools, and a pond with a fountain that doesn’t work. Check your rain gutters for blockages and small buckets to ensure you don’t have any standing water in your yard. Mosquitoes are some of the most irritating pests and are not something you want around your backyard barbecue.

Use plants against bugs

Some of the most attractive flowers can help you be bug-free this season. You might wonder why many people love to plant marigolds, petunias, lavender, and chrysanthemums each year. These plants are just a few of the natural bug-repelling plants available at your local garden store. You can also use lemon grass and rosemary when you want some wonderful scents in the garden. Use these plants around the garden and your home to ward off insects.

Native plants could be the answer

Some native plants to your local area are better at working with the natural ecosystem than those that we bring in from other areas. Study what plants are native to your region and plant some of these in your yard and garden to allow them to thrive with the local wildlife. Plants that aren’t native to your area won’t thrive as well in a foreign space, which makes them more difficult to understand and consider for your home. Some of these native plants can help keep bugs away.

Protect your plants from bugs

When you want to keep bugs off of your plants, one of the best ways to do this is to sprinkle some cayenne pepper on the plants. Bugs and critters don’t like spicy food, which means they will leave your plants alone if you put cayenne pepper on the leaves of your garden plants to deter them from eating your leaves, flowers, and roots. Cayenne pepper also deters rabbits, mice, rats, deer, and other pesky animals that might be trying to harm your plants, including your dog.

These are just a few ways for you to stay bug-free this season and enjoy the summertime without pesky insects bothering you or your home, lawn, and garden.