A Privacy Fence May Help With Backyard Pests This Summer

With the start of summer in Michigan come the start of insect season as well. With rising temperatures brings more ticks, mosquitoes, and other critters into the area. These bugs survive off of human and animal blood and often bring parasites and infection with them! In order to protect your family from these dangers in your backyard, there are a few preparations you should consider for these next few months.

Have a Privacy Fence

Obviously having a privacy fence made of wood or polyvinyl material won’t completely keep out insects from your backyard, but it will aid in keeping out larger animals that can carry them. Privacy fencing acts as your first line of defense from unwanted critters and pests.

Roll Your Yard During Fence Installation

Standing water is what attracts many types of insects (especially mosquitoes) to an area. Insects love standing water because it acts as a breeding ground for laying eggs and larva. To eliminate this problem, make sure your backyard is properly set up to not have any areas where standing water may form.

During the fence installation process would be an excellent time to have your yard rolled. Rolling your yard while it is wet will essentially “massage” or work all of the bumps, mounds, and depressions out to a level and flat surface. Make sure that the area where the fence is being installed does not remain dug in. Have the area filled in with dirt to keep from having a depression where water can gather into a puddle from rain runoff. Bugs can collect anywhere there is standing water and becoming quite annoying through the summer months.

Maintain Your Backyard Landscape

Tall grass and brush make excellent places for insects to live. Keeping your lawn mowed will greatly assist in keeping bugs from hiding in protective grassy areas in your backyard. If you do own a fence, it may also be helpful to trim the areas around the posts with a weed trimmer to maintain the grass that is hard to reach with just a lawnmower. For persistent and pesky weeds and grass that continue to grow in unwanted areas of the yard, try using weed killer in the spring.

Bushes and shrubs in the yard should also be trimmed to prevent pests from hiding out. If you don’t have a fenced in yard and your neighbors don’t seem to maintain their yard, it can affect bugs coming into your yard and make it difficult to ward off insects. Consider investing in a privacy fence or talk to your neighbors about maintaining their property to reduce the population of bugs in the area.

Install Your Fence to the Appropriate Level Underground

Pests that have the ability to come into the yard from under the fence can be very frustrating to deal with. Not only can they burrow under your deck once in your yard and begin to nest there, but they can also bring with them ticks and fleas and other insects that can cause mange.

If you keep a garden in your backyard or flowers and plants that may also be a tasty snack for animals, having a fence is one of the best solutions for keeping out these predators. Even with your fence though, you should make sure that it is installed with the posts at least 12 inches below ground level. When buying a fence and selecting height, you can add an extra foot to your posts to be sure they meet the sub-terrain installation suggestion. Some fence owners simply add mesh fencing surrounding the bottom of their privacy fences to make sure it is blocked off at the bottom.

Enjoy your backyard the way you want to and don’t let bugs or critters get in the way this summer! A privacy fence may be the solution you need to keep your home safe from outside pests.