We all want to keep our houses bug-free, but the chemical pesticides are way too harmful and toxic for use in your home. The further we discover synthetic pesticides, insecticides, and herbicides, the more we find out how dangerous they are for the atmosphere, people, and animals.
Spraying garden chemicals can cause health risks, and they usually aren’t even that effective. Initially, they will kill off many pests, but they can eventually develop immunity to the pesticide and come back even stronger. Many synthetic pesticides can have unintended targets; another problem is the side effects.
By beginning with good fertile soil, the best plan is to evade the need to use pest control, ensuring proper sunlight levels, watering conditions, matching your plants to the soil type, and using proper organic pruning and fertilization, if necessary. There are many alternatives to chemical pesticides; if that doesn’t work, they can reduce bugs while leaving a healthy environment for your home.
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Barriers & Repellents
Barriers and repellents help keep pests and bugs out of the garden. They act like a wall restricting crawling bugs from entering your home. For instance, plants can provide a living barrier to insects. A way to protect carrots that are growing is by using toilet paper rolls to prevent worms from getting through them. Pennyroyal, peppermint, and spearmint naturally deter ant, aphids, so plant them in your garden, and these pests and bugs will stay away.
Cooking cedar twigs in water and then pouring the water over plants will deter corn earworms, cutworms, and other bugs. Just as ants avoid cayenne pepper or iron phosphate, snails won’t cross a line of lime. A natural chemical material generally used as a nutritional supplement keeps bugs at bay.
Seal Doors
Bugs can find a way into your house through even the smallest of cracks. Make sure the doors are tightly closed in your home. If needed, add weather stripping and use caulk to fill any gaps where the door frame comes in connection with the wall. If you leave doors often open in your home, consider adding a screen door to block bugs from entering.
Fix Cracks
Patch and seal the holes or cracks in your house to keep bugs and other pests far away from this winter. Clear away broken bricks, replace any rotting wood, and patch and replace any cracks in your home’s walls and foundation. Check your house siding to make sure there aren’t any holes or gaps.
Check Around Pipes
You may have holes and gaps that could become an entry for bugs during the winter if you have any plumbing or utility penetrations in the walls of your home. Fill any gaps with expandable foam insulation or caulk.
Use Window Screens
To create an extra barrier, make sure your windows have screens to keep bugs out during winter. Look for an adequate screen or a 20-mesh with holes too short for most insects to get through.
Avoid Ants With Vinegar
Use a water and vinegar solution to wipe down countertops or anywhere you’ve spotted ants and other surfaces. Repeat this step numerous times for the best results. Using this formula destroys the scent trails that ants use to travel.
Fight Roaches With Borax
For roaches, you can use borax of the classic laundry powder- Mule Team Borax to eject roaches from your house. Mix equal parts of sugar and borax in small containers. Then, leave them around cracks, windows, baseboards, and anywhere else bugs migrate as sugar attracts the roaches, the borax poisons and dehydrates them.
Final Words
When winter arrives, bugs and insects also come with it. And then you’re not the only one who wants to get inside the house. In search of a warm place to get cozy, winter can bring pests to your home. Try out these simple tricks and see if it makes a difference in your home. Some of these remedies may take time to work fully.
