Pest Control OKC

Pest Control OKC: Plants to keep away pests

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Pest Control OKC: What to plant to drive away pests

Gardens are a great investment in your home and your health. Gardening is a great way to get exercise and can leave your home looking beautiful. But all those beautiful plants can also attract not-so-beautiful pests…or can they? The Bug Guy, pest control OKC, has a few plants you can add to your home or garden to drive away pests!

Basil: Planting some basil in containers in your home near entrances to the outdoors can help keep away flies and mosquitoes. It also has the added benefit of letting you grow a herb that had many uses in cooking! Basil can be added to salads and used to enhance other vegetables like tomatoes.

Lavender: Lavenders smell great to humans but moths, fleas, flies and mosquitoes hate the scent and will avoid it. Lavender had been used for centuries to add fragrance to homes. Keeping bouquets in your home will drive away the flies and putting one in your garden will help keep pests that might be attracted to other plants away.

Lemon Thyme: A more adaptable solution to repelling mosquitoes, Lemon thyme can be planted in rocky or shallow soil and still thrive. It just needs to be in a sunny location. There is some more maintenance to keep it repelling mosquitoes though. To release it’s chemicals you have to do what’s known as bruising the leaves. Simply cut off a few stems and rub them between your hands. Make sure you’re not allergic to this plant though, you can test your tolerance by rubbing a few crushed leaves on a small part of your forearm for several days and watching for adverse effects.

If your home is hosting some unwanted guests, call The Bug Guy, pest control OKC, today at 405-973-5522!

Pest Control OKC

Pest Control OKC: Keep pests out of the garden shed

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Pest Control OKC: Keep your shed pest free

It’s starting to warm up, and that means it’s approaching time to bust out the garden tools and start taking care of the lawn. But there’s always that trepidation that comes with opening that garden shed for the first time in months. What’s going to come crawling out of there? Rats? Wasps? Ants? Is your lawnmower going to be covered in ants? Is your leafblower now home to a black widow? The Bug Guy, pest control OKC, has a few tips to keep the pests away this year.

Keeping your shed clean and organized is the most effective way to keep most pests away. Pests hate a well kept environment with few places to hide and fewer food scraps to eat. Regular vacuuming, sweeping, and cleaning will go a long way to keeping your shed pest free. The scent of mint, lavender, and tansy can also drive away bugs while also letting your shed smell great! Removing standing water to deter mosquitoes from nesting in your shed. Spiders are a problem that will handle itself once you clear away the other bugs. Spiders prey on other insects, so if your shed has no insects it won’t have any spiders! Stain or paint exposed wood to protect it. Never store compost, potting soil, or sawdust in your shed and always keep other garbage away from your shed. You can deter ants from invading your shed by drawing a chalk line around your shed. You can keep bees and wasps away by sealing and holes in your shed and keeping dead or old wood, including firewood, away from the shed. And always, always clean your tools before storing them back in the shed. You don’t want all your hard work to be for nothing because you didn’t want to wipe down your lawnmower do you?

Call The Bug Guy, Pest Control OKC, for all your pest control needs.

Yellow Jacket- Pest Control OKC

Pest Control OKC: Discovering An Unlikely Yellow Jacket Nest

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A “Yellow Jacket” Story Submitted To Our Pest Control OKC Team

Some yellow jackets build aerial nests, but many build their nests in the ground. These types of colonies can typically be found under porches, stairs, in sidewalk cracks, at the base of trees, or in out of the way places which would normally be undisturbed. Today, our pest control OKC team has a story that is brought to you by submission of a customer who helped us discover a yellow jacket nest in an unlikely location.

The JD Story:

It was a warm, spring day and Lois decided that letting her two children (JD and Matt) play outside in the backyard while she did some housework sounded like a great idea. The children ran outside to play on the old swing set.

After what only seemed like a few minutes of the children swinging, JD let out multiple bloodcurdling screams. Matt ran inside to get their mother as quickly as he could. When Lois and Matt had made it back outside they were horrified to see yellow jackets swarming and buzzing all around JD.

Luckily, JD wasn’t highly allergic to the multiple stings of the yellow jackets and was able to survive the terrifying experience, but has the story to tell for a lifetime.

Upon calling our pest control OKC team, it was discovered that the yellow jacket nest had been made just underneath one of the old, hollow swing set posts. When the children began to swing higher and higher, it caused the posts to rise from the ground and disturb the nest. The motion, no doubt, made for some angry insects.

Our OKC Pest Control Team’s Comments:

In most cases, aggressive behavior from a yellow jacket is not a problem for people unless an accident occurs. They may attack, as well, if you attempt to swat them away with fast movements. Yellow jackets are combative and protective of their nests if they feel threatened. This is problematic for any homeowner who happens to come upon a hidden nest, such as the children in the submitted story.

Our pest control OKC team has been hard at work this year! Don’t be a victim. Give our pest control OKC team a call to eliminate your chances of a run-in with yellow jackets. You may contact The Bug Guy at 405-973-5522.