Your home is your retreat. A place to gather with friends and family. Where you eat, sleep, and relax. This sounds just as lovely to rodents and insects. Especially when it starts getting cold outside and they’re looking for a warm spot with a more stable food source. You can help prevent an infestation in your home by following some simple rules of perimeter pest control. When you strengthen defenses on the outside, there’s less of a chance pests will get inside.

Perimeter Pest Control Hotspots

How do you enter your house? That’s right, pests can get in the same way. When you’re looking for places to spot treat for pest control, start at the doors—front, back, side, garage, all of them. Then check the windows. Hit all corners of your home’s exterior. Cracks and crevices may form at these junctions. Fill in any hole, no matter how small, around the perimeter of home. Focus on areas where pipes or wires enter the structure, around vents or other openings to the inside, or where you’ve noticed infestations before.

Perimeter Pest Control Products

Preventing pests from entering your home takes patience and persistence. Arm yourself with the following tools for perimeter control:

• Hand pump or backpack sprayer and liquid concentrate insecticide. Apply about every 90 days around the perimeter of your home. If there is a larger infestation or you’re working in high heat or a rainy season, make it every 30 days. Target the area about a foot above and around the foundation. For greater impact, add dust insecticide once liquid has dried.
• Hand duster and dust insecticide. Fill cracks and crevices with dust about every six months.
• Rodent baits and traps. Place in areas you’ve noticed rodents before. While these may be more effective when used inside, they can be placed in potential exterior hiding spots, such as garages, sheds, and piles of firewood. Check bait stations and traps at least every two weeks and replace when needed. Spring and fall are usually the busiest seasons for rodents and insects, so keep this in mind if you see more activity at this time.

Always read the label on any insecticides or rodent bait, and follow proper application instructions. Children and pets should stay out of any treated area until liquid products have dried.

Pest Prevention

Treating the perimeter of your home to prevent pests is an ongoing process. Some years may be worse than others depending on various conditions. If you experience any sort of infestation one year, be proactive about treating your home to help prevent future problems. Be aware of sanitation issues and other contributing factors to why pests are attracted to your home. For a better understanding of why your home could be a target and how to protect it, contact Cardinal Lawns at 614-808-4446.