How to Keep Creepy-Crawlies Outside

With Spring Comes Bugs

With the awakening of spring, comes the awakening of bugs. All of them big and small are enthused with new adventure and this often leads them right through your door.

Once inside, scurrying ants, earwigs, cockroaches, silverfish and other tiny pests can multiply very quickly, so this is the right time of year to take the right kind of action.

"Options include perimeter protection to keep unwanted insects from crossing common points of entry into the home", says Glenn Martin at Scotts, a leading company in lawn and garden supplies. "A convenient, effective solution is a barrier spray that provides protection both indoors and outside. Spray Ortho Home Defense Max, for example, on outside door frames, windows, exhaust vents and in cracks and crevices around your foundation. For the indoors, apply a band of it under carpets and around baseboards where unwanted pests like to hide."

Bug Control Tips

Prevention is more than half the battle, so here are some additional tried and true tips:

• Tie up and properly stow loose garbage around your home
• Clean up spilled food immediately, indoors or out
• Make sure window and door screens are in good repair
• Seal any cracks or holes around your home's foundation
• Keep your basement dry and plumbing in good repair to help eliminate damp conditions
• Don't stack wood, boxes or newspapers against the house since it provides a nesting home for a variety of pests, including rodents