Common pests & prevention

Wood pests
Example: Carpenter ants, damp wood termites and subterranean termites

• Avoid dense shrubbery and debris near your home.
• Get rid of stumps and rotting logs.
• Keep an eye on places where there is wood-to-soil contact around your home: landscaping timbers,
• fence posts or wood siding.
• Keep gutters clean.
• Ensure good ventilation in your crawl space.
• Carefully inspect firewood before bringing in to your home.

Clothes eaters
Example: Clothes moths and carpet beetles
Clothes moths and beetles are attracted to places where hair, fur and lint accumulate, so vacuuming is key.

• Vacuum cracks in flooring, baseboards, shelves, drawers and closets and behind furniture.
• Vacuum air ducts and vents, drapes and furniture.
• When battling infestation, discard or freeze the vacuum bag to kill pests.
• If you have items that you can’t freeze, dry clean or launder, place the item in a heavy duty plastic bag with dry ice and let sit for four days to kill all life stages.

Pantry pests
Example: Meal moths, flour moths, sawtooth grain beetles
and cupboard beetles

• These species live on stored grain products or dry goods like powdered milk, candy, sugar, and cereal.
• They can enter your home in dry food or pet food.
• To prevent infestation, store dry goods in the freezer for a week before placing in the pantry.
• Some pests are not deterred by bags and boxes, so storing dry goods in sealed glass containers can help.
• When you do have an infestation, remove the food source and vacuum thoroughly in cracks and crevices.

Wasps
Wasps aren’t all bad — some will help you control pests by eating plant-feeding insects and nuisance flies. But there are things you can do to keep them away from humans when outdoors:

• Keep your food and drinks covered, seal garbage cans and dispose of ripe fruit
• Avoid wearing perfume or bright colors outdoors if wasps are a
• nuisance.
• Don’t swat a wasp! They release a chemical that
• attracts nearby wasps.
• You can also make a simple trap from a soda bottle: cut off the neck and invert it, fill it with soapy water and coat the entrance with jam for bait.
• Non-toxic commercial traps and bait are also available.

Slugs & snails

• Slugs are attracted to beer. Create a slug trap by burying a shallow, wide container such as a yogurt container so it is level with the soil. Fill it part-way with beer. Slugs will crawl in and drown.
• You can also place a ring of eggshells, sand, diatomaceous earth or other dry abrasive material around a plant to keep slugs away.

Lawn

• Weeds occur in every lawn; they become a problem when turf is unhealthy.
• Most lawns are best mowed at ½ inch; mowing too short increases weed invasion.
• Leaving grass clippings on your lawn is good fertilizer.
• Lawns should be light green; a blue-green lawn is over-fertilized, leaving it vulnerable to pests.
• Control occasional weeds by hand-pulling before they go to seed and spread.
• If weeds have completely taken over a small area of your lawn, consider replacing with landscaping using native plants, or with grass alternatives such as an “eco-lawn.”

Garden & landscape

• Covering exposed soil with a layer of organic mulch reduces weeds and retains moisture. The mulch layer should be at least two inches thick. Wood chips or compost make effective and environmentally friendly mulches.
• Prune plants to remove diseased, damaged, or dead wood that encourages disease.
• Use landscape edging to help control undesired plant spreading.