ABCs of Pest Habitat Modification-Exterior Landscaping

Let's begin by inspecting the exterior of the building. The first thing we want to pay attention to is the vegetation. And there is three things to consider. First of all, what species of plants are you utilizing as the exterior vegetation or the foundation plants? If you've selected plants that produce flowers or fruit, that's gonna be attracted to insects and other types of pets. When fruit starts to fall down, rodents may be feeding on it. So select the proper foundation plants first. Second of all, you many have a foundation plant that doesn't produce flowers or fruit, but it's very densely compacted like this privet plant. That's not a good idea either, because wasp nests and other types of flies can harbor in that area and then have access to the building. The third thing about vegetation is, where is it spaced or where is it positioned in reference to the building. This is important because, like this plant, it's way too close to the building. Pests can use the plant as a highway to the building and therefore have direct access to getting inside. After you've considered your vegetation, then you want to consider what's down below. For example, here in this situation, is a lot of mulch, almost six inches of mulch. Now mulch is really good for plants because it actually keeps the moisture there. But it's also a great harbor for insects. They love that moisture and food. So that moisture and food source will be a harborage area. So we recommend that pine straw and other chip mulches ought not to be used around the exterior of the building. We encourage that you have a three foot barrier with no vegetation and to use rock or rubble in that area. This is for two reasons, number one, most pests don't like to live in rock, and second of all, rodents will be exposed if they're running on the outside of the building. They really like to be hidden. And when you have that three foot barrier of rubble, they're not gonna be running on the outside of the building very often. Water is the source for all life. When you're doing your inspection, look around for water sources, puddles or other types of water situations, that may be where pests are actually congregating, situations like this, you've got a downspout and you can actually see water dripping, actually some moss is growing here, these are conditions that are gonna be conducive for pests. The pests may be breeding in that area or just coming to drink the water that's there, birds and rodents, therefore, are up next to the building and their next step is gonna be going inside of the building. Try to remove all standing water if possible. And there's kind of two ways to do that. Make sure that the movement away from the building is downhill so the water will move away. If not, you may actually have to mop it up at times to make sure that there's not a water source for pests.