humane pest control for unwanted house guests
Combatting Uninvited Visitors
Here are some ways you can keep your house free of unwanted visitors without resorting to unpleasant means. Use some of my simple ways to outwit household pests by using plant deterrents and some clever homespun trickery instead.
Discouraging Wasps
At this time of year wasps can become menacing as they frequent the fruit trees in our gardens and become intoxicated on the overripe fruit. However, wasps detest the smell of household ammonia. By mixing 6 ozs of ammonia to 1 gallon of water this solution can then be decanted into jars, this will then discourage the wasps. This is also useful when outdoor eating. Gardeners with fruit trees can suspend this mixture in wired jars suspended in the limb of the tree high enough so as not to be disturbed. An alternative for indoor use could be crushed garlic in a little water left in a dish overnight, insects loathe garlic.
I would also recommend growing the herb summer savoury as this offers speedy relief to wasp and bee stings. Further treatments for stings are the juice of an onion, lemon, vinegar or tomato.
The Truth About Crane Flies (Daddy Long-Legs)
Crane flies are rather abundant in the summer months but there is a persistent urban myth that these harmless creatures are venomous and that the long legged spiders that frequent our homes are even more poisonous, none of this is true, apart from being a nuisance. The crane fly does not feed at all in its short life. They ride on thermals to travel high and far and are easy prey for a vast array of predators. The female probes and lays her eggs in our lawns and meadows later becoming leatherjackets a valuable food source for starlings which then provide a free service aerating our lawns whilst hunting these tasty morsels.
Please see below for preventative measures
Night-Time Invaders
Moths have an aversion to lavender flowers and their oil. Soaking balls of cotton wool in the oil or tying bunches of lavender flowers or their heads in muslin bags will ward off marauding moths, crushed mothballs can also be used, several bruised or pulped laurel leaves placed in a bowl overnight will dispel any flying or crawling insects.
Slugs and Snails may also appear on damp and rainy nights. To prevent them entering your home, apply a layer of petroleum jelly on the threshold of your door: this is a barrier they will not cross. Further prevention would be crushed mothballs placed on the inside by the door as they contain camphor which they dislike immensely.
Ant Invaders
If ants habitually invade your property, crush the blooms of lupins and spread the juice at the bottom of your doorway, ants dislike the plants of chives, pennyroyal and the little Mexican marigold Tagete. Grow these plants in pots and place by your door; this will keep them at bay. Cayenne pepper can also be used as a barrier but beware this can burn cat’s paws and can stain carpets.
Mice
As winter approaches mice will look for a warm place to stay and will endeavour to enter our homes. Planting spearmint in pots near to access doors will deter this little fellow. If rats also become a problem plant Valerian, as well as looking pretty it will ward off both rats and mice.
All the plants named above are easily obtained from garden centres or plant nurseries; rarer plants however are generally available from herb specialists.
Planting the above mentioned herbs and flowers in pots around your patio and doorways will enhance the area whilst protecting your homes from unwanted invaders. For the ways of the past have much to teach us whilst educating us to be a little more kind to the creatures which all have a role to play on this earth, and thus protecting our fragile environment.
Image credit: Kevin Grieve on Unplash
