Basic Pest Control Tips For Your Home

Here in the Austin area – just like any other area of the country – we deal with a variety of pests that try to invade our homes. However the two we are most familiar with, thanks to their destructive natures and sheer number of them in our area, are the scorpion and the winged carpenter ant.

The striped bark scorpion is the species of scorpion most often seen in Central Texas. While it is not usually deadly, like any member of the arachnid family (which includes ticks, mites, and spiders as well as scorpions), its sting is painful and can cause an allergic reaction in some people. It can survive without feeding for six months, and usually enters structures seeking water and shelter. Our local variety of scorpion is distinctly associated with dead vegetation, fallen logs, and human dwellings. It is common for this scorpion to climb trees and walls, and they often are found in the attics of homes. During periods of hot weather, scorpions may move into living areas to escape the high temperatures in attics.

The winged carpenter ant, while commonly mistaken for a termite, is second only to the termite in the amount of damage it can impose on a home. Adding to the confusion is that it is not uncommon for both the winged carpenter ant and the termite to swarm at about the same time. However, it is vital that they be identified accurately, because control measures differ greatly for the two insect groups. Carpenter ants are social insects that live in colonies, primarily in wood. They hollow out wood to build their nests, making their galleries and chambers velvety-smooth as if a carpenter had sanded the surfaces. Their tunneling in wood and foraging for food and water lead to their “pest” status in or around homes.

Carpenter Ant vs. Termite

The first line of defense against any pest is to control the environment, making it as uninviting as possible. In the case of these two pests, many of the suggestions are the same.

• Remove all trash, logs, boards, stones, bricks and other objects from around any buildings on your property. Because the scorpion is nocturnal, during the day it hides under stones, in piles of rocks, in cracks in masonry, in wood piles and under the bark of trees.

• Keep grass closely mowed near structures. Prune bushes and overhanging tree branches away from the structure. Tree branches can give scorpions – and other pests – a path to the roof.
• Store garbage containers in a frame that keeps them above ground level.
• Never bring firewood inside the house unless it is placed directly on the fire.
• Plug weep holes in stone or brick veneer structures with steel wool, copper mesh, pieces of nylon scouring pad, or small squares of screen wire. (Steel wool will rust when wet, so it should be used only on dark-colored facades.)
• Keep window screens in good repair. Make sure they fit tightly in the window frame.

Beyond the environmental control, there are also insecticides that are effective for controlling many types of pests, including carpenter ants and scorpions. Carbaryl (Sevin ®), chlorpyrifos (Dursban ®), diazinon, propoxur (Baygon ®), or any of the synthetic pyrethroids (permethrin, cypermethrin, cyfluthrin, etc.), lambda-cyhalothrin, deltamethrin, propoxur, or bifenthrin. Look for products containing these active ingredients, and them around the foundation of the house and up to 1 foot above ground level on the exterior walls. Also apply pesticides around doors, window eaves, and other potential points of entry. Indoor treatments should be directed at potential points of entry, corners, cracks, and crevices where scorpions hide. Follow directions on the package for dosage, mixing, and application methods, or call a pest control service to do the work for you.

Our thanks to the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service for providing much of this information!

Decking the Halls, Pt One

Today’s guest is Jessica Nixon of Jessica Nixon Interior Design, the company she founded in 1994. Jessica is a registered American Society of Interior Designers member and has earned the National Council for Interior Design Qualification certification. In addition to her tenure as president of Austin’s ASID, she has held past positions with the association including Programs Chairman and Design Excellence Chairman. Visit her website at http://www.jnid.com/.

To create a beautiful sophisticated Christmas tree here are some helpful hints:

1. There is no better way to exude elegance than the use of white lights.

2. To make the white light even more angelic try purchasing some white tulle (wedding netting). Cut into 1 yard pieces, scrunch together, and fill in any empty spaces between the tips of the branch and the trunk with the tulle. This not only helps the tree look fuller but gives an extra twinkle. It also looks great if you wrap the base of the tree with the tulle. Tulle comes in many different colors another sophisticated color to use would be silver or gold.

3. Many pre-made tree skirts barely cover the tree stand. One method to make it look fuller is to purchase two to three yards of a beautiful fabric from the fabric store. Just wrap around the base of the tree, fold under any exposed rough edges, and puff and scrunch until it gives the soft, billowy look. This is a custom, no-sew tree skirt for less.

4. As for tree topper, what I think always look beautiful is a glass finial. If budget is an issue, you can do a bow on top of the tree. For the bow, I always say “bigger is better.” If you cannot make bows, you can go down to your local crafts store or florist shop, and they can make them for you out of the ribbon you chose for a small fee. Also, I recommend having streams of the same ribbon that cascade down the tree. All you have to do is cut the ribbon that will be showing at an angle to have clean finished edge.

5. If you want a sophisticated look and you have children, my suggestion is to have a separate tree for the kids to put their collection of ornaments on in the family room or even play room. That way you do not have to Mickey Mouse on your formal tree. My friend has a mini tree in each of her boys’ room, and they have fun picking their favorite ornaments to go on their own mini tree.

6. If you can not get around having only one tree, make it over the top! One way to achieve this is to use a fun, hip-colored garland. Another way is to choose a tree skirt that has a lot of color. You could also try the same no-sew method tree skirt here again, but make the color something that is bright and festive. A patchwork skirt or even a patchwork quilt could be a very unique tree skirt. And lastly, do everything multi-colored. Instead of using one color of ornaments, use red, purple, blue, and green and definitely go with multi-colored lights. By using all these elements together you can create a tree that is whimsical and fun for everyone.

Look for us again when we discuss swags, wreaths, and centerpieces.

Jessica Nixon, ASID