In my on going battle to kill the ants invading my house, storage shed and property I began looking into natural means to help keep them away. Besides the normal routes of using ortho pest killers, ant bait systems, and the good old smack em with a shoe option, I decided to try some plants. I had done some research on the Internet and found that there are several types of plants to keep household pests like mice, ants, fleas, and ticks not only out of the yard but out of the house.
A couple examples of these types of plants are mints. Spearmint, Peppermint, Lemon Balm and many other common herbs are known to produce enough fragrance that they mask the scent trails left by ants. There are far too many plants that can aid in eliminating or deterring household pests from coming into the home too mention on this site but I have tried the ones listed above.
Some ideal places to plant these natural household pest controlling plants would be around the foundation of your home, landscaping around the storage shed, near entrances or windows to the home and anywhere else you have noticed ants or other household pests trying to enter your house. Since I have just planted these pest controlling plants, I can't say for sure that they work but they are far less expensive than using chemical products like Ortho ant control. I'm sure if they do work I'm sure I will not see the instant gratification I saw when spraying the pests with bug killers but I'm willing to give it a shot.
In addition to surrounding your property with these household pest controlling plants, I have heard you can even pick a few leaves and leave them in cupboards, closets, drawers and other areas pests might frequent. If you know of other natural ways of controlling household pests feel free to leave a comment and tell us about them.
Household Pest Control | Plants To Keep Ants Away
Household Pest Control | Why Do Pests Like My House?
Household pest control can sometimes be one of the most difficult thing's you will ever do. I have heard time and time again horror stories of how someone has had a flea infestation last lasted for a year or more. You can constantly find posts on forum about people continually trying to kill ants, cockroaches, and mice in addition to numerous other household pests. In order to understand how to rid your household of pests you first need to understand the pest itself. Yes if you want to catch a mouse think like a mouse :).
Controlling household pests requires a full understanding of exactly why a particular pest wants to come into your house. Pests are not much different than you and I; they require food, water and shelter. These are the things you need to find out about your particular pest to get them out of your household. I’m not going to get into each particular species of pest but will give you a general idea of some of the most common household pests and their needs
Ants – the majority of ants live in underground nests, which can usually be spotted by a small mound of soil around the opening. They will eat just about any type of scrap food or sweets. They typically come into you house due to extreme weather conditions outside, seeking food or water. If your going to be sucessfull at learning how to Kill Ants your going to need some patience
Mice- most rodents live in small burrows and are most often found coming into the house during spring and fall. Mice will eat everything and anything you have in the kitchen. Keeping mice out of cupboards can be a real chore. Once they find a good food source, like your kitchen pantry, they will then set up house and start breeding. It can take some pretty strong rat poison ingredients to rid a house that is completely infested
Cockroaches- much like ants and mice they are also seeking food and water that is available in most household cupboards, trashcans and kitchen floors.
Are you seeing a theme here? Yes, most household pests are seeking the three essentials to life, food, water and shelter. The easiest way of household pest control is prevention rather than elimination. Keep your house, counter and carpets clean and eliminate the pests’ food source. Make sure you faucets aren’t leaking, this standing water will draw pests seeking a water source, especially when the outside weather conditions are very dry. This is just a general overview on household pest controland I hope it helps to answer: "Why Do Pests Like My House?" I will get into more specifics on each particular type of pest as this site grows.
