As beautiful as the state is, Florida pests are a recurring threat to home landscaping. Florida calls itself home to a huge variety of animals and garden critters, many of which wreak havoc on your plants, landscaping, and yard.
Despite the threat of pests and rodents, homeowners can take precautions to cut back the invasion. Here are a few things you can do to prevent unwanted pests commonly found in Florida from disrupting your home.
Install Lava Rocks to Deter Florida Pests
While snakes won’t necessarily destroy your property, they can be dangerous to anyone who may frequent your yard. Of course, this includes family members, friends, and pets. However, homeowners can deter snakes and other Florida pests through lava rocks.
How do lava rocks help? Due to their sharper form, lava rocks act as a deterrent for pests. In the case of snakes, they find it uncomfortable to slither along sharp rocks. Best practices for lava rock use to keep snakes away include:
- Extending the lava rocks 2-3 feet wide of your home (or any area you wish to keep snakes away from)
- Have 5-6 inches of lava rock
Combat Pests with “Anti-Pests”
With Florida pests, they take part in the surrounding ecosystem just as any other animal does. One way to fight ward them off is to use your landscaping, gardening, and yard to attract animals that act as “anti-pests”.
This entails adding things like bird baths, bird feeders, ponds (or other water sources), bird houses, toad houses, etc. With these garden additions, they attract animals like toads, frogs, ladybugs, and birds. Ultimately, these critters feed on more destructive garden pests, such as insects and rodents.
Maintain a Clean Garden with Bella Sand and Rocks of Tampa
When all else fails, maintain a clean garden to scare off Florida pests. As far as garden maintenance is concerned, start by using ‘clean’ landscaping materials. Essentially, clean materials include soil, mulch, and sand without stowaway pests.
Furthermore, homeowners should trim leaves, remove dead plants, and control weeds. All three of these encourage pest invasion. Finally, watering in the tends to benefit homeowners. Due to the time of day, it reduces fungal growth.
Though Florida has a lot of pests that can wreak havoc on your yard, there are effective and safe ways to deter them using simple tools and strategies that don’t require professional help, lots of time, or lots of money. To better control your garden ecosystem, explore our catalog of lava rocks and landscaping materials!