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Spring is just around the corner, and it is time to start thinking about your yard again. Landscaping each spring is important-after all, taking care of your yard improves your home’s value, eliminates the risk of pests, and keeps relationships between neighbors friendly.

The grass will turn green and grow quickly again as the weather gets warmer. The soil will loosen as the frost disappears. And your trees will be ready for some much-needed TLC. Are you ready for springtime landscaping?

Develop your landscaping strategy with our tips on tree care, flower bed and garden maintenance, and lawn care.

Tree Care

Your home’s trees provide shade in the summer and look beautiful during every season. Many homeowners don’t realize how …

As a homeowner, you have probably heard horror stories about bedbugs. These pests can come from anywhere, and they often prove particularly difficult to exterminate. In a previous blog, we discussed how to avoid bringing bedbugs into your home.

But vigilance isn’t a surefire guarantee you won’t ever have to deal with bedbugs, especially if you have pets or children who might bring the bugs in. So how do you know if this pest has infiltrated your home?

In this blog, we list five signs of a serious bedbug infestation that will likely require professional removal.

1. Blood Smears on Upholstered Furniture

Bedbugs often come in large family groups. Because you’ll rarely have a single bug crawling on any …

In a previous blog, we provided you with tips to mouse-proof your home during the summer. But as the days and nights get colder, it’s more important than ever to protect your home against pests.

You can use many of the tips in our mouse-proofing blog to winterize your home against mice and rats, but what about bugs?

Below, we’ve listed a few tips to help you winterize your home against insects. As you implement a few of these methods, you can keep creepy crawlies out of your home and avoid a potential winter infestation.

Clear Away Outside Debris

The best way to prevent pests from getting inside your home is to make sure that they don’t live near …

You aren’t much of a bug person. In fact, you keep your home and property clear of garbage, overgrowing plants, and clutter so insects don’t call your living environment “home.” But no matter how tidy your home is, you still find the occasional critter scurrying across your floors or countertops.

You wonder how exactly these bugs find their way inside your home. And if you see one insect in your kitchen or bathroom, chances are there are more hiding elsewhere in your house.

In another blog, we discussed the myths associated with cockroaches. Here, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about the roaches common to your area, as well as how your home inadvertently invites these critters …

“The ants go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah . . .”

Does this sound like something that has happened at your house? Ants are one of the most common household insects in the U.S. and some of the hardest to get rid of. They love to invade homes because human food contains so many of the natural sugars they enjoy. They find a food source, and then they tell their colonies to move in. Within a short time, you may have some unwanted houseguests.

In this blog post, we’ll discuss the most common types of ants in the state-including carpenter, pavement, and little black ants-and describe what they can do to your home. We will also what these different …

You do all you can to keep strangers from finding a way into your home. Locks on your doors, automatic lighting on your porch, and other security tactics help you feel safe. But have you considered nonhuman intruders? While no one intentionally welcomes bed bugs, people might not realize how their actions brings these pests into their homes.

Two of the most common ways you may open your doors to bed bugs include during a trip or move. Below, learn what to look for, where to look, and how to handle these situations.

What to Look For

To prevent bed bugs from coming inside your home, you need to detect them. These pests usually reside in or near beds in …

Remember children’s movies with animal characters, like The Aristocats or Cinderella? These cartoon films taught you lessons you’ll never forget, not to mention they spurred your love of fluffy creatures.

But as cute as Monsieur Roquefort the mouse looks to the aristocats or how helpful Jacques and Gus seem to Cinderella, you know that mice in real life don’t hold the same appeal. Whether you shriek at the sight of mice in your home or pick the critters up by their tails and toss them outside, you still don’t want these furry pests anywhere inside your house.

You’ve heard that mice carry unsanitary bacteria and diseases. And mice also eat all of your food, get into stored items, and leave …

You want to plant your garden next week. Maybe you’d like to spruce up your home with some new houseplants. But you’ve had pest control problems in the past, and you’re afraid that ants, spiders, mice, and other vermin will destroy any flora you plan to decorate your home with.

Did you know that your gardening may unintentionally invite unwanted pests into your home? It’s true. Certain plants attract irksome bugs and critters while other plants deter and drive these bugs away. You can also grow specific plants to gather helpful insects around your home. These friendly bugs also rid your home of those nasty pests you’d rather forget about.

As you learn how to eliminate bugs and other critters …

Cockroaches inspire mixed feelings in homeowners. Some scream when they spot the insect crawling around their pantry. Others feel disgusted when they have to squash the bug under foot. And a few people feel a sense of admiration for a cockroach that manages to live in seemingly impossible conditions.

Because many people associate cockroaches with strong emotions, they often generate myths and rumors regarding the bug. Those who fear them might amplify that fear with tales of cockroaches burrowing into skin. Those who despise them may tell others that the insects lead to disease. And those who respect them might exaggerate the bug’s abilities.

Well it’s time to squash these rumors once and for all.

Before you buy into another …