Critters, Crawlies, & Creeping Things...
Landscape maintenance and pest control go hand-in-hand. — By Timothy Hawkins of Brookstone Landscape & Design, LLC — W
ith winter behind us and spring and time to be walking your landscape. It is
a great time to see how things fared through the winter, what fun things you want to do with your landscape this year, and understand how you can make your landscape work for you.
Why do you want to make your landscape work for you? Outside of your property looking good, maintaining the value and integrity of your property (structure and landscape) should be a regular focus. Critters, creeping things and rodents all can cause more harm than good if you aren’t careful. A balanced approach between proper landscape maintenance and pest control go hand-in-hand.
Critters, creeping things & rodents all can cause more harm than good.
Some Simple Pest Control Tips
1. Appropriate Tree and Shrub Pruning » Pulling plants away from structures prevents critters simple as pruning a branch back or you may need to be more aggressive and remove the plant entirely. » What time of year are you pruning your plants and how
12 Community Associations Journal | April 2022
is the pruning being done? Depending on the answers to those questions, how/when you prune may invite pests onto your property due to the damage to plants.
2. Animal Repelling Plants » Putting in plants that animals don’t particularly like is a great way to minimize how much they take over your property. Even slugs can be damaging to a landscape and understanding the proper balance between slug bait and removal of the plants is essential.
How & when you prune may invite pests onto your property.
3. Plant Density » Think about thinning out some of your beds or clearing out that ivy so it discourages critters from setting up a home where you can’t see them!
4. Trash Pickup » Surprisingly enough, it doesn’t take much for an ant or raccoon to get a taste from one small wrapper laying in a bush for them to continue to loiter around until you leave something else lying around for them. Cleaning up trash/debris as you see it ensures that you aren’t encouraging them to come into your home.
5. Inform Yourself » Knowing what your landscape is/isn’t doing for you is the beginning to better understanding how to best care for your investment. Oftentimes searching for help
Continued On Page 14
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36
