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Do It Yourself (DIY) Pest Control vs Hiring a Professional

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When it comes to common insects in and around your home such as spiders, ants and even roaches, many people are bypassing the pest control professionals and are attempting to do things on their own. Applying your own pest control products may seem easy, but there is a lot more to it. The first step in controlling any pest problem in your home is correct identification. A complete life cycle has four stages – egg, larva, pupa and adult. An incomplete life cycle has three life stages – egg, nymph and adult. If you can identify the insect: which life stage is controllable and when does it typically present itself? By the time you see the damage from disease activity, it is often too late to apply a preventative pest control treatment. Again, you need to be able to identify which insect is present and know the time that will work for controlling the insect. Identifying and treating pest problems is not as easy as you may imagine.

Deciding to DIY or Hire Pest Control Professional

Once you have identified the insect, determined the proper time to control it and purchased the correct product, making the actual application may be the easiest part - if you own the proper equipment. Is the pest control material applied in a granular formulation or is it applied as a liquid application? If it is a granular product, do you have the correct type of spreader to apply it. If it is a liquid product, what type of sprayer will work best for applying the product? You also need to know the size of the area that will be treated. The rates for most products are expressed as units per 1,000 sq. ft., such as pounds for granular products or ounces for liquid products. Most homeowners do not know the size of their lawn or landscape areas, so the amount of product applied may be too high and cause damage or too low and be ineffective. Determining which product to use can also be a challenge. There are even some products that claim to be organic and not harm beneficial insects. These products work well, but the can does not go very far.  You may need to use four or five cans to treat around your entire home – one time. Almost all the control products that professional lawn and tree care companies use are considered General Use products, meaning anyone can purchase and use them. Many of these products are not sold in the typical hardware store, garden center or home improvement center. This is not because they are dangerous to use, but because they are expensive to purchase or are sold in quantities that the typical homeowner will never use up. There is still a wide selection of insect control products available to purchase, but most people don’t spend the time to look at the label to determine if the active ingredient will control the pest that is being targeted.

Spring-Green Pest Control*

Not all insect control products will control all insects. Reading the product label is the most important aspect of using any pest control product. There is more to the label than target pests and application rates. There are instructions on watering and mowing requirements as well as the need to use any personal protective equipment such as rubber gloves and/or boots along with eye protection. There is more to controlling pests and that includes instructions, process, and safety.  Spring-Green offers several insect control services such as Perimeter Pest Control to prevent bugs and other intruders from entering your home, and Mosquito Protection Program that creates a barrier around your home to control mosquito activity. Using a professional lawn and tree care company like Spring-Green will ensure the correct products are used at the proper time to control these pesky pests! *Not available in all locations