Bugs (renting, Home Depot, organic)

[Eric_96SC]

I'm in need of some advice on controlling bugs.

We're renting a home with a fairly grass-less front yard, but that has a backyard that ends in a drainage ditch. I've been able to control the front yard by just pulling up the weeds by hand. There is really no grass to speak of in the front yard. Tomorrow I'll be cutting the back yard down with a weed eater as far as I can, which really isn't very far. There will be a fairly sizable area in the back yard which I can't control because there is an extreme slope which leads down to a drainage ditch.

We've had a lot of ants, moths, mosquitoes, spiders, one snake, many random flying insects which I can't identify, and suddenly today, a tick. The tick surprises me since it showed up on me despite that I have not ventured into the back yard, and because I've kept the front yard low and clean. The tick was in my hair and in my house when I found it!

Ants are everywhere in the front yard, and there have been several in the house. They range from the little black ones to the big reddish colored ones. I thought that I had the ants under control when I put traps down earlier this year, but they've come back in force. We've had more than a few mosquitoes come into the house. as well.

I'm fairly anti-pesticides. I'd rather not put chemicals in my yard or around my house, especially since I have a two-year old who can and will get into everything, but until now I've never had to deal with the amount of bugs that we have here, so I am starting to reconsider my stance on bug spray.

Short of calling Orkin, or another pest control agency, does anyone have advice on controlling the types of bugs I've mentioned with the population I've suggested?

[Eric_96SC]

My son came in from playing tonight with three huge welts on his legs. They look like they are from mosquito bites. I'm about ready to call in the bug pros, but I am hoping that someone can give me some advice that doesn't involve spraying my yard with pesticides.

[PawleysDude]

We've had a lot of ants, moths, mosquitoes, spiders, one snake, many random flying insects which I can't identify, and suddenly today, a tick.

I don't see anything there that's really out of the ordinary for any part of SC. There's no way you're going to kill everything crawling or flying in your yard. Ticks are nasty things, but they can be found anywhere. Avoiding high grass is your best bet for avoiding them. If you have fire ants, their bites are bad and should be addressed. Over 'n Out does a pretty good job and is available at Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. You can help to minimize mosquitoes by making sure you don't have any stagnant water that's accumulated and sitting around, but when they're bad, bug repellent is usually the only thing effective.

Orkin or any other reputable pest control company is going to concentrate on termites and keeping crawling bugs out of your house.

[Skyliner]

There is a small landscape/nursery shop at the corner of US 123 and US 25, which I have been told carries organic insect repellent. Also, Burt's Bees has an organic insect repellent available which may be available at Whole Foods Market or Mast General Store.

[Eric_96SC]

Thank you both for the info. I kinda anticipated that there would not be a magic bullet to solve my bug crisis, but maybe with judicious use of a pesticide with the repellent you mentioned, Skyliner, will be enough to make it bearable.

[orrmobl]

Try to find a zone sprayer that dispenses pyrethrin (sp) - it's made from chrysanthemums and repels bugs/mosquitoes in a large zone if sprayed - there are whole systems that can be installed on a home but it seems more like you'd need one just for the back yard...

Good Luck!

[Eric_96SC]

Woah, orrmobl. What are you doing all the way down South in the Upstate forums? I used to talk to you in the Philly forums.

I'll look into the pyrethrin. Thanks!

FWIW, I poured boiling water into all of the ant hills that I could find over the weekend based on some reading I was doing on the web. It may be too early to tell, but it definitely appears to have taken a toll on them.