With winter quickly approaching, it may seem like a good idea to just let your lawn maintenance go until next year and just let winter take it’s course, however leaving your yard unkempt before winter can lead to various pest issues. This post is about a few pest control tips to keep pests out this winter.
Tall grass can attract many kinds of pests over the winter
There are several pests that like to live in tall grass and a couple of common ones are fleas, ticks, carpenter ants, fire ants, chiggers, chinch bugs, among other things.
Some of these pests like ticks can survive even with temperatures near to freezing as with taller grass the ground stays warm enough for them to survive. With excess tall grass, even when it snows, it can create a small barrier between the ground and snow, making a safe zone for pests.
Many pests that survive close to winter such as ticks, become more aggressive as temperatures drop and food sources become more scarce. This means you should eliminate as many possible harborage points as you can to avoid future pest issues.
Tall grass and leave piles create a safe zone for pests
When you fail to upkeep your yard right before winter, this can lead to a safe zone for pests. With snow build up, it can create a warmer zone under the snow nicely insulated for pests. This safe zone makes a great spot to live for pests like rodents, mice, moles and voles, and more.
Typically these pests can either hide out in this warmer zone or some, such as moles and voles, can dig deeper into the soil to where the temperatures are warmer to survive or keep up with active food sources. Voles, moles, and even gophers can continue to cause damage to your lawn even throughout the winter months.
As temperatures shift and get colder, these pests will often look for an upgrade in where they live. Unfortunately, that usually means your home. If you have created these pockets of safe points for pests to live near your home, it makes it easier for them to get in when an ideal opportunity arrives.
This could mean as you leave your garage open as you warm up your car this winter, or have your doors open frequently with visiting relatives for the holidays, pests can make a quick entry. By trimming your grass and cleaning up leaves and various other debris, you can eliminate many of these safe zones around your yard.
Cleaning up gutters is another chore that can help eliminate pest issues this winter
In addition to cleaning up clutter and mowing grass in your yard, cleaning your gutters should be another priority before winter comes. Similar to the safe zones tall grass creates in your yard, clogged gutters full of leaves and debris can also attract pests and create those insulated areas under the snowfall when it comes.
It creates little insulated “sky ways” for pests similar to how some cities have them for humans to travel from building to building without going outside. You’ll want to avoid creating these safe zones as well for pests as it can lead to pests traveling from point to point on a house or even from house to house this winter very quickly.
Depending on if your neighbors did or didn’t clean their yard, it could end up causing pest issues for you as well if you leave these harborage points available to pests. Make fall clean up a priority this year to help eliminate several potential winter pest issues around your home.
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