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Pest Control – Do It Right!

Most of the gaseous fumes and chemicals used in pest control are detrimental to your health. Yes, you might get rid of the pests but at a great cost to your health. If you have children or pets, you must find safer ways of getting rid of the pests that plague your house. It’s best to select natural pest control, if you have those unwanted creepy crawlies in undesirable levels in your home or yard.

A natural pest control won’t poison you and your kids along with the pests in question.

Affordable and Safe

The great thing about natural pest control is that it is cheaper then buying or applying pesticides. Moreover, it is not only safe for you and your kids, but also for your garden, the maintenance of the natural wildlife, and the environment in general. Estimates suggest that more than 130 million pounds of pesticides are used by North American home owners in their homes, gardens, and lawns. You can imagine the amount of pollution caused by this fact alone!

Surprisingly, home owners use more pesticides than farmers, almost three times more! Many experts believe that, most wildlife pest poisoning and surface water contamination occurs as a result of pesticides that are found in single family homes.

Pest Control for Your Garden

Prevention is Better than Cure

One of the easiest ways to prevent insects and other pests from damaging your garden is to discourage them from entering the garden in the first place. One way you can do this is by pulling out all the weak plants that might be infected and by building a healthy organic soil. Use natural composting methods to dress your soil. The use of natural fertilizers will also go a long way in developing strong and vigorous plants.

You must also give due importance to the minimization of insect habitats and clear all the debris and weeds from the garden.

The Benefit of Insects

There are quite a few beneficial insects that can be used in your garden. These insects prey on other harmful insects and their larvae. You can purchase specific insects for specific problems.

Ladybugs are common insects that can be used to get rid of mites, whiteflies, scale, or aphids. You can attract ladybugs to your garden by planting daisies or members of the daisy family like yarrow or tansy. Lacewings prey on aphids and the larva of these insects also eat aphids and various other types of insect pests. Lacewings can be purchased from a catalogue or can also be attracted to your garden, if you have ‘composite’ flowers like goldenrod, asters etc.

Another pest preying insect is the Praying Mantis. This insect has a healthy appetite for most of the pests that plague your garden. The eggs of the praying mantis are generally available through a mail-order catalogue. Create a mini-garden of flowering pots that is specifically designed to attract and harbor various types of beneficial insects.

Natural Pest Control for Your Home

Cockroach Control

Cockroaches are the most common pests that afflict a home. One of the better natural remedies of getting rid of cockroaches is Diatomaceous Earth. This is a potent mixture of fossilized diatom shells, which helps in the desiccation of the exoskeleton of the cockroach, which means that upon contact the cockroach, will dehydrate and die within a few hours.

Another easy way of repelling cockroaches is by the scattering of Bay laurel leaves in places inhabited by roaches. A great method of killing cockroaches is by using boric acid powder in the places that are frequented by them. What’s more they can never become immune to boric acid.

Housefly Pest Control

The best way to control houseflies is by getting rid of your garbage, dirt, human and animal waste, and composts in a timely manner. Bear in mind that houseflies are primarily responsible for the spread of various diseases and hence their proliferation in a house must be guarded against.

Houseflies can be prevented from perching on certain areas of the house, if these areas are wiped with salt water. You can wipe the floor and dining table with salt water. Mothballs also effectively repel houseflies as does sweet clover. These could be hung from mesh or net bags near or on windows and doors of the house.

Wood Worm and House Ant Control

Beetles and wood worms have the ability to slowly but surely destroy your furniture. They not only eat wood, but will build their own nest amongst the furniture. The best way to get rid of wood worms is by applying heat. You can expose the wood worm infected furniture to fumes or heat for a day at least. This fuming will exterminate the woodworms, as well as their larvae.

An easy way of destroying wood worms is by getting rid of the moisture. These insects thrive on moisture and hence a little application of talcum powder around the infestation will go a long way in getting rid of these insects.

Red ants and black ants are two of the most common visitors to a house. They contaminate food-stuffs by attacking in groups. To get rid of them, you must first identify the ant nest that they have built near the house or in the house. You can get rid of them by drawing a circle of chalk around the ant nest. Surprisingly, ants do not want to have anything to do with chalk. Moreover, you also have the option of pouring boiling water over the anthill.

The sprinkling of paprika, red chili pepper, borax or dried peppermint on common ant trails or near the various cracks and entryways will definitely deter these insects who favor sugar, but will be waylaid by chili.

These are just some of the insects and pests that will adversely affect your home and your garden. There are many more, but there are natural pest control remedies for all of them. So use them, as they are much better than using various chemical and pesticides to get rid of them.

Links:

http://www.tips4me.com/tips/homehints/preview_main.asp?tip=pest_pestcontrol

http://living.oneindia.in/home-n-garden/insect-free-home.html