Porch Life: Banish the Bugs

Dirt Digger I keep citronella plants in pots around my patios...run our fingers over the leaves and it releases oil which keeps the mosquitoes away....sadly enough, we also have a tacky zapper on the patio by the back door...we lovingly refer to it as "the kill zone"!

Barnhart Gallery Sheepishly, I'll share with you my latest efforts to keep bugs at bay based on information from, shall we say, unstudied sources.

I don't quite recall where I read it last year, but was more than willing to try adding the scent of cloves to my cobblestone patio. Since I needed to re-sand in between the stones anyway, I decided to try mixing several jars of ground cloves into the sand and swept it into all of the crevices. I also added whole cloves to my living/candle centerpieces. Whether it worked, I can't say for sure, but it certainly smelled wonderful out there!

The next one was from one of the many seemingly sourceless tidbits I so often find forwarded to me by my Dad's wife -- use Listerine as a spray. I picked some up, along with some spray bottles that I could live with the looks of, and was chatting with the checkout person about my plans, and she told me that her mother had heard the same thing, sprayed her patio area, and it became sticky and eventually moldy. Anyone in the market for a second hand bottle of Listerine? I'm back to my cloves!

Morgan Daniels There are some other plants that also make bugs run away (yes, blond moment and can't recall which ones) but... I wanted to say that this was a great article and it reminds me of why I love your writing. Keep up the good work and I LOVE these ideas - doesn't hurt that bugs creep me out. :)

kanezo $23.00 for a fly swatter? Seriously?

inkwitch My grandmother (a country woman from TN Appalachia) always painted her porch ceilings a light blue/aqua. For years I thought that was the color porch ceilings were supposed to be! Now that I have my own house -- you guessed it !-- even though it really doesn't go with the house, it just seems "right"!

101airbourne I have a Koi pond and have Mosquito eating fish we called Gambozas,. when eggs are laid they grab the egg sacs and drown the babies. A plant called Lion-something (Citronella) also help and smell good too!!!

susieposson I have two of the Mosquito Magnets in my 1/3 acre backyard. They are a life saver for us during the summer months in South Texas!

gaillorene We have stinkbugs here in VA. I use eucalyptus oil with some water in a spray bottle. I spray around doors, windows, on screens...well, everywhere. Seems to keep them at bay. Many less now come into the house when we go in and out.

janescriv Put a small dish of dry dog food outside in a discreet spot, a few feet from your open door or window. Flies, especially, won't want to leave their meal to come in your home.

Ann Smitt Haint Blue - I read an article once about ceilings. The writer said if you paint your ceiling blue it will confuse the spiders and they won't be attracted to the ceiling. I tried it and it seemed to work for about 5-years then the paint faded.

Soorikian Architecture Becky, thanks for featuring the porch above. I don't know if it is an old wive's tale or not about the blue ceiling, but the owners of this home say they never get bugs or spiders up there, AND they have never seen a ghost. So, I don't know......All I know is that a blue ceiling porch sure is pretty!

Peggi Worth My porch ceilings are also blue & I never get wasp or other bug nests up there. I get them everywhere else, but not on my blue ceilings.

scifairmom According to Cisco Morris, Martha Washington geraniums were planted in flower boxes at open windows to repel flies.

ruthieq I don't try to keep bugs at bay.. they are too good for the garden..I just don't like them in the house..so I caulk every year to help keep them out of the house.and I too have a blue ceiling..because I like it..and I' m from the south too, every one had a blue porch ceiling..

hth1 The $23.00 fly swatter looks more like an expensive spatula. What happened to paying a few dollars for a swatter?!

designchallenged I have a screened porch with a blue ceiling and an unscreened front porch with a blue ceiling. The front porch seems to get fewer bugs now than before it was painted blue. I believe that bug zappers zap the good bugs along with the bad ones. In my area i've always heard that tansy will keep ants out of the house. when I'm outside I rely on deet.

Becky Harris Dollar Store fly swatters are great and just as functional as any other. $23 fly swatters make for prettier pictures in an ideabook!

I'm loving all of these tips, please keep them coming!

Michelle Lizotte What if you can't control the standing water? We have a small ravine at the back of our yard and it flows sometimes, but not always. I guess the rest of the tips come into play, but can anything be done about the water?

Dresser Homes Hey Becky, any idea how to keep those big carpenter bees from eating holes in my beautiful cedar porch timbers?

Wicker Patio Furniture and More I really like the idea of screened porch that can transform into a Florida room. Bats are okay but get a little scary right before dark as they swoop around catching bugs. That's when we usually retreat to the screened porch.

bluejeanroy One note if you are going to use a bug zapper. Don't hang right by your door. The zappers job is to attract bugs and then kill them. You don't want that right by your back door. Find some place to hang it several feet from your door and where you normally sit. That way the bugs will be drawn away from you.

tmschwarz We have a geranium, venus fly trap, and pitcher plant on the patio for either repelling or eating bugs. We also have torches that burn citronella oil. But what works best are the old-fashioned, drive-in movie mosquito coils. They burn for four hours and keep the mosquitoes away from the patio. Oh, we also have a bug zapper. It's fun watching the little lizards and frogs eat the dead bugs on the ground.

Becky Harris Michelle, that's a tough one, I don't know short of doing regular rain dances to keep that water moving!

Dresser, I think some friends of mine had some luck with some sort of product after struggling with carpenter bees; I'll reach out and see if I can find out what worked for them. I have a feeling it was not organic.

Becky Harris Dresser, I heard back from my friend who eradicated his carpenter bees:

"It's called permethrine. It's mixed with water and can be sprayed on. I have lots of it. Amazon even sells it.
It is so inert that they use it to spray on animals for pest control. It is highly toxic to bees. Exterminators use some sort of powder that they mist into the holes they make, then plug the holes. I'm not sure what it is called, but can find out."

janet4784 Zappers kill all the good bugs too, which are the majority. It's like using a nuclear bomb to kill weeds. Have a variety of native plants that draw native bugs, don't use chemicals, and nature will balance herself out just fine with a little time. Learn to live with bugs, for goodness' sake!

Suellen Valetta We have 3 carniverous pitcher plants that are a natural alternative.

Nina Fortin Where can I get 1 of these plants? It's so KOOL!!!

ruthieq for dresseerhomes...paint...that is what I have been told by pest co...and plug the holes in the wood..I don't think that the spray you are talking about is allowed in Ca anymore..many pest sprays have been banned here in Ca. Check with your local Master Gardeners at the Extenion office in your county.

axlee We have a Mosquito Magnet and it works. (Not sure if ours is that brand but you get the idea.) Pay the 500 bucks, follow the instructions carefully and be willing to wait out about 6 weeks for a breeding cycle, but then presto change-o -- no more bugs. We live next door to a neighbour who ``maintains`` a swamp in their backyard in an area with lots and lots of mosquitos and black flies and last year -- with the magnet -- was the first summer we could really use our backyard. It was a lifesaver.

Gretchen We've heard that the chemical attractant used in some of the mosquito killer machines depletes ozone--which we need more than we don't need bad bugs. But mosquitos are carriers of disease which is a serious health risk as well. Here in Minnesota, where the mosquito is the honorary State bird, we recommend that homeowners are diligent in removing any standing water where mosquitos are born and bred. They can breed in the tiniest amount of water, as long as it "stands" long enough to complete the egg to hatch cycle. Use mosquito dunks (harmless to fish, frogs and other wildlife) in ponds in addition to something that keeps the water moving.
Bats are great for diminishing bugs--I think people need to get over their superstitions about bats. We don't seem to mind butterflies and birds swooping around.
Here's to summer!

robojessbo i have found a good way to keep flies away is to hang crystals around .it confuses them and them keep away frrom food when dining outside.

scaplan You can use mosquito dunks for standing water that you can't eliminate.

We burn pinon wood in a chiminea on our deck, which works really well and we use a fogging pesticide when we are having a lot of people over in our yard.

I wanted bat houses until I discovered that where I live, bats are the only animal in the county who have tested positive for rabies. No thanks!

Debra Urban How can I get rid of the ants that strip my plants of their leaves? I've tried so many things but they just move to another area if yard and it starts over! I want them gone! Help!!

ruthieq Debra, if you have a lot of ants you most likly have lots of aphids. a hard spray of water everyday can cut the amount of aphids and will therefore lessen the amount of ants. You could use an insectecideal soap or "neem" oil..check with you local Master Gardener or the extension office or your local state college..The Master Gardeners have free handouts or you can go to their website or the IPM.com for your area and print the material off your computer.

mlloyd005 Jodhpur, India is called "The Blue City" because all of the houses are painted blue (like your blue porch ceiling). There are many ideas about why this is the case, but one prevailing thought is that they add chemicals (like copper sulphate) the the wash to repel termites. Perhaps the origins of blue ceilings were to repel spiders (as people have mentioned above) and termites.