Tips to deal with summer pests around your home and backyard

We tell you how to deal with some common summer pests Ottawa residents have to deal with near their homes.

While you may want to spend a lot of time outside during the summer months, the weather can result in some unwelcome visitors in your backyard and inside your home.

Bugs, rodents, raccoons and mice like to come out and play during the warmer months.

Jason Costantini of Orkin Pest Control Canada dropped by CTV Morning Live with tips to deal with pests and animals in your backyard and inside your house.

“We want to manage and mitigate as best we can,” Costantini said Thursday.

“There’s something that all homeowners can do to help and then if your neighbours get on board with that and make it a team event, then everyone’s going to be more successful for it.”

Backyard

Costantini says there are a lot of things you can do to mitigate and “even prevent pest infestations” in your backyard, noting wildlife and insects can be lurking outside your home.

“Most important is basic sanitation. Obviously, you want to declutter as much as you can,” Costantini told CTV Morning Live

“With the decluttering and so on, you’re going to want to keep the grass short as you can because everyone is worried about ticks; it’s a harbourage area for mosquitoes.”

Costantini offered a few tips for your backyard:

• Remove dog bowls and standing water to eliminate mosquito breeding areas
• Keep shrubbery and grass as short as you can and away from the house
• Purchase devices that emit an ultrasonic sound to keep skunks, raccoons and other wildlife away.

Patio/decks

“You want to make sure the decks and fencing are in great condition,” Costantini said.

“Maybe the wood is treated because any rotten wood you’re getting into carpenter ants and old mould eating insects.”

Costantini recommends painting or staining untreated wood to keep wasps and other insects away.

There are plants you can use to keep bugs away, including lavender, citronella, marigolds, basil, mint and chrysanthemums.

Costantini also recommends using a fan if you’re outside at night to keep the bugs away.

Around the house

“The most important thing is exclusion because it prevents it from happening to begin with,” Costantini said.

“This is where you need to be very diligent. What you want to do is go around the exterior, use your bug eyes and you basically look for any cracks or crevasses in the foundation. There’s different products that it be used to seal.”

Costantini says Orkin Canada has a team of professionals to address issues around the home.

In the basement

Costantini says if pests or insects enter the home, there are things you can do to address the issue.

“If you are concerned, there’s monitoring that can be done,” Costantini said. “Use of sticky traps; it doesn’t eliminate an issue but it kind of gives you an indication of something there.”

He says there are traps that can be deployed to deal with mice.

One thing that you can do to eliminate centipedes and spiders in a basement is the use of a dehumidifier. Costantini also recommends looking for leaking pipes to address moisture and sealing baseboards.

“Proper sanitation, decluttering – it all goes hand in hand,” Costantini said.