With summer coming up on the horizon (err– many horizons! we can dream right?) you may be becoming stir crazy in your home, getting excited to start tending to your yard with the utmost love and care.
Keeping a stunning backyard is important, especially in Ontario where natural landscapes are not as readily available as they are in places like the West Coast of Canada. Keeping a manicured backyard and garden is a hobby shared by many types of people, not just green thumbs! This is due to the fact that gardening is relaxing, and nurturing plants can have positive effects on the brain!
Therefore, there’s nothing more frustrating than the presence of pests in your yard. One infestation can cause devastation, wreaking havoc on all your hard-working and tender cultivation. Not only can pests negatively affect the growth of your plants, they can also impede upon you and your guest’s ability to truly relax and unwind on the back patio with a nice refreshing summer beverage. Plus, laying and reading in a hammock isn’t relaxing when you can hear the overwhelming hum of a wasps nest just mere inches away from your resting place.
Due to their capacity to injure, and in some cases, kill humans, wasps are a pest we get many calls to come eradicate from our client’s yards each summer. Therefore, without further ado, here are our top tips for minimizing your risks of facing a wasp infestation this summer:
Purchase a Decoy
Interestingly, wasps are very territorial creatures. Due to this instinct, they are highly unlikely to build their nest if there is another one nearby. Many gardening stores sell fake wasp’s nests for gardeners like you to hang in their yard as a deterrent. Your fake nest will scream, “This our property! Move along” to any prospective wasp tenants looking to move into your yard!
Keep a Watchful Eye Out
If you’re certain you currently don’t have any wasps in your yard, great! However, nest building can begin anytime as early as the spring. Therefore, it would be prudent of you to conduct regular (say, weekly) inspections of your yard including railings, furniture, overhangs, gutters, etc. to ensure that no new nests are forming.
Should you happen to notice either a new nest of wasp eggs anywhere on your premises, proceed as such:
- Firstly, if the nest is tiny and the queen bee is away foraging, you can step on the nest.
- Secondly, if your nest is a little larger, wait until a cool part of day to knock it off it’s perch while fully protecting your body in clothes and a face net.
Prevent Visitors
If you don’t have an infestation in your yard but still want to cut down on wasps visiting your space, you can take the following preventative steps:
- Never leave fruit outside (it’s their favourite)
- Keep your compost and garbage bin tightly closed
- Serve your drinks in cups and not bottles, as wasps can easily slip through the spout of a bottle and sting you if you don’t notice before sipping
- Cover all food being consumed on your patio with napkins
- Fashion a trap out of a plastic wasp bottle trap
What NOT to do
Now that we’ve covered a variety of ways you can protect your precious garden and backyard against wasps, here are some additional things you should ensure to NOT do when dealing with wasps:
- Do not attempt to tackle the challenge of removing a large nest on your own, call a pest control company like us
- Do not pour boiling water on a ground nest, the entryway is usually lower than the occupied area
- Do not pour flammable liquids on a ground nest, as this can pollute your soil
- Do not use a shop-vac to try to destroy your nest, this does not work
Why Pestend
At Pestend, we specialize in providing affordable, ethical, and effective pest removal for homes in Toronto! Our money-back guarantee makes working with us a great choice for all your pest removal related needs! Call us today to receive your free quote and wave goodbye to bee’s, wasps, and yellow jackets!
