Summer’s coming! You know what that means – time for barbeques, pool parties, and small get-togethers in your backyard. However, hosting a backyard party is challenging. You want your guests to have a great time and remain comfortable. Depending on where you live, insects might be a problem that could hinder your soiree’s success. So, to help you out, here are some ways to keep creepy crawlers away and get an insect-free backyard.
Prepare Your Backyard
A good host will provide a clean and well-maintained backyard for their guests, but you’d be surprised to learn how many people skip this step due to time constraints or laziness. Even a small task like mowing the grass can drastically reduce the number of ticks and ants residing on them. Ticks are a menace that stick to our bodies once they bite and start feeding on blood. Though most cases are harmless, they can transmit Lyme disease.
Ticks like to reside in moist, shady areas like leaf piles, shrubs, and grass under shade. Seat your guests away from them and place fencing around these areas to prevent a guest from going there. You might want to hold off on insecticides or pesticides in these areas due to their harmful effects on the environment. Instead, spray natural repellants like garlic oil to drive away ticks.
Useful Plants that Repel Insects
You may have handled the ticks on the ground, but everyone hates mosquitoes, and what are you going to do about those? Luckily many plants act as natural mosquito repellants. You can start planting herbs like mint, rosemary, sage, and basil in your backyard to deter mosquitoes. Additionally, they’ll provide a fresh source of herbs for cooking.
Use flowering plants like lavender, marigold, and bee balm as decoration for tables. These plants repel not only mosquitoes but also other insects like aphids, flies, and beetles. You can take it a step further by placing small bottles of these essential oils. You’ll find many brands that sell mixtures of these oils, and rubbing just a few drops can significantly reduce bug bites by confusing insects’ sense organs.
Bring out the Big Guns
If you live in tropical areas, like Florida, that witness overwhelming numbers of insects, then you might want to take some proactive measures when dealing with insects at your party. Start by installing bug zappers at different points in your backyard to attract and kill flying insects. Look up insect traps that you can make using recyclable items. If you’re short on time, buy them. They’re pretty inexpensive and will go a long way to protect your guests and ensure you have an insect-free backyard.
Lastly, light up small bonfires or fire pits and put a few sprigs of dried natural repellants like those mentioned above. The smoke from these will keep bugs away.
Some Safety Tips
Before you give your guests repellants (like essential oils) to apply to their bodies, make sure none of them are allergic. When lighting bonfires, make sure no guests are seated close to the fire and keep an extinguisher nearby to ward off unwanted fires. Ensure all bug zappers are correctly connected to an electrical supply and are kept away from children, pets, and water sources. Following these measures will make certain that you have an excellent party, where you shine as the perfect host.