Pests can cause a number of problems when they invade your home garden. They will damage your plants, dig up your lawn, defecate on your property leaving a stinky mess for you to clean up, and can cause a lot of discomfort for your family as well as your pet.
Some of the common garden intruders in New Zealand include dogs, possums, birds, mosquitoes, and cats among others. Some of these pests could even go as far as getting into your home causing additional problems for you and your household.
Signs of a garden pest problem
Some of the signs you will notice when you have a garden pest problem include:
- Damaged plants. Some pest intruders such as possums will munch on your garden plants causing serious damage to them.
- Holes in the soil or lawn. Cats and dogs like digging up soil which could damage your lawn as well as plants. If you keep finding dug up soil in your garden, then you probably have a pest intruder on your property.
- Animals in your garden. If you are lucky (or unlucky, depending on how you look at it), you might catch sight of the actual intruding animal while it’s in your garden.
- Animal poop in your garden will indicate that you probably have some unwanted guests when nobody is at home.
- Animal noises. Birds, dogs, and cats can make noises during the day and at night which will not only cause you sleepless nights but point to a pest problem that needs to be resolved.
If you have noticed any of these signs, then you need to take action to get rid of the stubborn pest that has made your garden their play area.
How do I remove pests from my garden?
The first thing you need to do when you notice pest activity in your garden is to identify what kind of pest you are dealing with. Some, such as birds, are pretty easy to identify as they are not very discreet. But for others, you might be required to do some detective work to know exactly what you are dealing with.
Once you identify the pest, you have several options for removing the pests to select from depending on the pest and your preferences. These include:
- Animal repellers. These are devices that produce irritating stimuli to ward off any pest intruders from your garden. They can either be motion activated or could go off at user-set time intervals. Animal repellers could also use visual stimuli that scare away the pest such dummies resembling predatory birds to scare away bird pests. Other stimuli used by repellers include water jets, ultrasonic sound, audible sound and strobe lights. View our repeller products >
- Physical barrier. Putting up a barrier such as a fence around your garden could also help keep away larger pests such as dogs from getting into your home. Animal spikes installed on existing fences could also keep pests such as possums and cats (that are pretty good at climbing) from getting over the barrier. View our animal spikes >
- Removing pest attractants. The majority of pests will come into your yard in search of food and drink. Eliminate sources of these attractants and pests will have no reason to invade your property. Keep your yard clear of food by cleaning up after barbecues and after you eat outside. Also, drain water sources and fix leaky plumbing in and around your garden to ward off pests.
- Keep your garden clutter free. A cluttered garden provides ideal shelter for intruding pests. Get rid of unnecessary items from your garden to ensure that pest intruders have nowhere to hide. Also make sure that your garden is well maintained by mowing the lawn and trimming overgrown bushes and plants that provide good hiding spots.
Pests could cause quite a mess and restlessness when they invade your garden, but using one these methods, or a combination of several, will ensure that they leave and stay out for good.
