Can Your Fall Décor Attract Pests to Your Front Door?
Posted by Mosquito Squad
December 20, 2023
There are many ways Austin pests can arrive on your doorstep. Could natural fall décor be one?
Okay, we get it. It’s still summer! Both on the calendar and evidenced by the persistent sweltering heat. That does not mean that autumn is not on the horizon. Here, in the last few weeks of official summer, many of us get a hankering for a change of scenery. Not by taking a weekend getaway, but by decorating our homes with autumnal décor. Whether you love or hate pumpkin spice everything, it’s hard to deny the beauty of mums, haybales, and corn husks. Here’s what you need to know about pests and your fall decorations.
Don’t carve those pumpkins!
If you love Jack-o-lanterns, we recommend using faux pumpkins for that purpose, or at least holding off until very close to Halloween before carving. When you carve pumpkins for your fall display, the exposed flesh becomes very enticing to insects and mammals. The problem here is two-fold. Gnats, ants, and flies could become a real issue around carved, rotting food. So too, could rodents and other wild animals. As we know, fleas and ticks love to feast on the blood of ground rodents and other woodland creatures. Enticing them with sweet pumpkin flesh could also be introducing fleas and ticks to your lawn.
Mums and haybales and aphids and mites!
Chrysanthemums offer colorful flair to our autumn decorations. Rich reds and purples complemented by white and gold make for an Instagram worthy front porch vignette. Here too, we could recommend faux plants that can be used year after year, pest-free. However, we know that mum lovers can’t wait to pick out the richest and fullest plantings of the year at the local market and bring them home. If you have natural mums around your home for fall decorations, they could harbor aphids or spider mites. Hay and straw bales and cornstalks could be carrying a host of pests, as well. We recommend having your yard treated for pests, and additionally treating your mums with horticultural oil to keep them healthy and to control pest infiltration.
Pest Control in Austin with a Satisfaction Guarantee
Mosquito Squad of Greater Austin is here to help keep your yard safer from the threat of pests, no matter the season. If you are not already on our mosquito control, tick control, fire ant control schedule, it’s time you gave us a call. Our trustworthy pest control technicians will help you identify pest breeding hot spots, eliminate them, and make recommendations about keeping them from coming back. In addition to everyday yard maintenance, that regimen should include Mosquito Squad’s Austin pest control yard sprays and treatments for fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, and fire ants.
Trust Mosquito Squad, your tried and trusted Austin pest control company. Contact us today at (512) 456-9954.