Maintenance Tips For Flea And Tick Season

Spring is here, Summer is knocking on our door

Spring is a hopeful time for many people; it signifies new beginnings as the warmer weather helps nature flourish. However, to veterinarians, spring is better known as flea and tick season. As your pets excitedly explore the warmer outdoors, they will be greeted by all the creeping, crawling, and flying creatures that come out during this time.
Taking preventative measures is important, particularly ensuring that your pets are up to date with any treatments and medications. However, there are also steps you can take at home to prevent bringing fleas and ticks into your home. Prepare your pets for the season by following these spring maintenance tips.

Perform Regular Yard Maintenance

To help deter fleas and ticks from your garden, you should make sure you regularly clean and maintain it. You can commonly find nests in compost piles, old tree trunks, and piles of wet leaves, so be sure to keep your yard clean as best you can. Keep your lawn, bushes and trees well-trimmed and avoid leaving trash out in the open.
Garbage and refuse areas must always be sealed and tightly shut, as leaving anything exposed may attract wild animals who can bring in ticks and fleas. Birds can also bring these pests into your yard, so it may be best to limit these visitors and not put out feeders or bird baths. They may still be attracted to your pet’s food or water bowls if these are left outdoors, so it’s best to keep these inside.

Follow Proper Grooming Procedures

Practicing regular grooming is important, particularly during the warmer seasons. Cats and dogs should be brushed at least once a week, but if your pet’s coat is prone to tangling, then it’s best to do so daily.
Take this opportunity to check your pet for any indication of flea bites. These tend to itch, so you may notice your dog or cat excessively scratching, licking, or biting at their skin. If you see any red, itchy spots on the skin that appear to be oozing or moist, this could indicate a particularly severe reaction. It may be best to consult your vet in this case.
Regular bathing, grooming, and combing will help to prevent flea infestations, particularly when using repellents and a flea comb. You should always follow your vet’s advice when using flea or tick shampoo, pills, powders, or drops.

Clean Your Home

As well as keeping your yard and pet clean, you should also keep your home clean. Be sure to wash your pet’s bedding regularly, and if you spot any ticks or fleas, it may be best to replace these altogether until you know your home is free of these pests.
Vacuuming is crucial, but if you suspect a flea infestation, then it is important that you remove the cleaner bag in your vacuum and place this outdoors after use. In this case, you should also wash all bedding and curtains in your home and treat your carpeting with flea powder. It may be best to consult a pest control expert to ensure you properly eradicate these pests from your property.
Call Jenkins Pest and Lawn for any questions, today!

The post Maintenance Tips For Flea And Tick Season appeared first on Jenkins Pest.

from Jenkins Pest http://jenkinspest.com/2017/05/23/873/
via http://jenkinspest.com

Gardening Tips To Keep The Pests At Bay This Spring

As the snow starts to melt, all those pesky pests that have been hibernating under the soil of your garden will start to make their appearance. Most homeowners don’t realize that insects and arthropods can make it through the holidays, but by burrowing beneath the frost line they can survive even the coldest of winters.
If you don’t tackle your pest problems early on, then it may reach epidemic levels that are far harder to control. Avoid letting the crops you worked so hard to grow to get taken over by pests by implementing these gardening tips in preparation for spring.

Do a Bit of Spring Cleaning

To prevent garden pests from becoming a nuisance, you need to ensure that you give your garden a thorough cleaning. Get rid of decaying plant matter that will help to attract bugs by removing fallen leaves, faded blooms and weeds.
You should also clear out your greenhouse and give it a good scrub, washing out any planters and pots you plan on using. You should regularly clean your garden, pulling out weeds and pinching off dead or infested leaves as you spot them.

Start with Clean Soil

Using healthy soil will do more than help you grow beautiful crops, it will also aid with deterring common garden bugs. It may take more time to prepare, but you will see it is worth the effort. Here is a natural method you can try to keep your soil healthy:
• When the growing season begins, you should till your garden with organic matter, such as compost
• Once complete, use black plastic to cover your garden and keep it under wraps for six months
• When you remove the plastic, lightly cultivate the soil
• You can now begin planting
Placing natural elements in the soil will help to keep it clean and deter pests. The heat produced under the plastic should get rid of any existing bugs, including their eggs.

Rotate Your Crops

If you plant the same crops every year, the chances are that plant-specific insects and diseases will stick around, waiting for you to do your next round of spring planting. By rotating your crops, you can also avoid depleting vital soil nutrients.

Make Use of Beneficial Insects

While there are plenty of garden bugs out there you will want to avoid; there are some that can be of benefit to your garden. If you want to fight garden insect pests, then ladybugs can prove to be an invaluable tool. They eat mites and aphids, as well as the larvae and eggs of insects that can cause lots of damage to your garden.
You can purchase insects to release in your garden, just be sure to avoid using chemicals for ten days before releasing them. Other beneficial insects include parasitic wasps, hover flies, praying mantises and lacewings.

Keep an Eye Out for Pests

If you do end up with destructive bugs in your garden, then you want to make sure that you act quickly. The longer you leave it, the more damage your crops will sustain and the more difficult it will be to get rid of the problem. Perform regular checks and don’t delay in calling your local pest control services if necessary.

The post Gardening Tips To Keep The Pests At Bay This Spring appeared first on Jenkins Pest.

from Jenkins Pest http://jenkinspest.com/2017/05/01/gardening-tips-keep-pests-bay-spring/
via http://jenkinspest.com