Bug-Proof Your Yard & Garden

10 helpful tips to keep your yard and garden free of insects

Enjoy your outdoor spaces rather than be pestered by bugs. With a few easy steps, you can reduce the number of annoying bugs in your yard and garden, which minimizes the prospect of bugs invading your home.

Here’s how to keep your yard and garden (mostly) free of insects:

1. Get Rid of Standing Water insects flourish around standing water, especially mosquitoes. So, ensure your gutters, downspouts, windowsills, woodpiles, and inadequate drainage areas are clean and dry. Also, check around your yard and empty anything that holds water, like buckets, watering cans, toys, and old tires. Finally, for items that require water like birdbaths, pet bowls, and plastic swimming pools, keep the water fresh, not stagnant.

2. Avoid Over-Mulching While using mulch in your yard adds nutrients and a nice aesthetic, over-mulching can also act as cover and a breeding ground for bugs like ants and cockroaches.

3. Mix in Bug-Repelling Plants Planting herbs like rosemary, catnip, basil, peppermint, lemongrass, and thyme or flowers like marigold, lavender, and the chrysanthemum is the most organic way to keep bugs out of your yard and garden. The scent of these plants drives bugs away.

4. Clean Up Trash Ants, flies, and roaches are attracted to trash. Place all trash in sealed bags and in clean bins with secure, tight lids.

5. Trim Vegetation The fewer the hiding places for bugs, the fewer the bugs. Trim your shrubs and bushes to keep some clearance between your house and the vegetation.

6. Eliminate Yard Debris Insects hide in tall grass, wood piles, thick shrubs, grass clippings, and leaf piles. The tidier you can keep your yard the better chance you have of reducing pesky insects.

7. Keep Your Grill and Cooking Area Clean An unclean grill can offer a feast to certain insects. Keep the grill, food preparation surfaces, and tables clean. After a meal, sweep up any spilled or dropped food, removing all temptations for insects to move in.

8. Install a Patio Fan A fan will cool things down and create windy, challenging conditions for flying bugs.

9. Use Warm-colored Exterior Light Bulbs Flying insects are attracted to traditional incandescent light bulbs like a moth to a flame. However, warm-colored LED light bulbs with a yellow/orange hue are much less attractive, enticing fewer insects.

10. Create a Bug Barrier An effective spray like Ortho Home Defense can create a bug barrier that significantly reduces a bug problem. The best sprays will broadcast over a wide area and reach into inaccessible places where bugs hide and nest.