Tips and ideas for how to control ants, fleas, mosquitos and other pests in your yard. All natural solutions to keep your family, pets and house safe from insects! Using Essential Oils, Borax, Coffee Grounds and spices, you can help keep your home bug free.

Natural Solutions For Outdoor Pests

If you live anywhere but a tropical climate like Florida, you may experience ants or mosquitos or bugs from time to time, but they tend to die back when it gets cold.

Well it NEVER gets cold here so there are always bugs!

And while I am a proponent of chemicals when needed, I feel like I could spend my whole life covered in off and pesticides if I didn't find some natural solutions to mix in!

Natural Bug Spray Recipe

Take some mint leaves and garlic cloves and blend them in a food processor, then add a bit of cayenne pepper and a drop of dishwashing liquid. Add some water, bring the whole to a boil and let sit overnight. Strain it into a spray bottle and use around your yard to keep the bugs at bay.

Coffee Grounds For Pests

Ants. Use coffee grounds.  Pests don’t like it and it kills ants.  Spread some used coffee grounds around the house where the bugs are entering the house. 

Snails and slugs. Snails and slugs can carry salmonella so they are definitely something you want to keep out of your garden. Put coffee grounds all around the perimeter to keep them out.

Fleas. I have heard of a suggestion to make a coffee wash to bathe your dogs in for fleas – mix coffee grounds with water and wash your dog. I haven't tried this one, but the next time the doggos have fleas I am going to try it!

Borax & Sugar For Ants Recipe

Use borax and sugar to kill ants.  Mix ½ cup of sugar, 2 tbsp of borax and 1 cup of hot water.  Put it where the ants are walking and those that don’t die will take it back to their nest and kill off the rest.

Fruit Fly Trap

We just had a huge fruit fly outbreak (like hundreds of them!) The best way to get rid of them is to put apple cider vinegar into a shallow dish and add a couple of drops of liquid dish soap (it breaks the tension of the vinegar).

Essential Oils For Outdoor Pests Inside

Use clove and thyme.  Mix Clove, Eucalyptus, Lavender, Peppermint oil or Rosemary oil into a spray bottle of water and use it to mist your bed lightly. Allow the spray to air dry.  

You can also spray this on your laundry if you dry it outside on the line.

It will repel mites and if you add basil and lemongrass, it will also repel fleas and lice.   

If you have fleas in your home or haven’t yet gotten new flea collars/treatments for your pets and want to keep your home flea free, lightly spray carpets and dog/cat beds and let dry.  Don’t let pets on their beds until it’s completely dry.

Natural Pest Control Wrapup

There are so many natural ways you can take care of bugs in your home and yard. Yes, sometimes it gets too bad, but mostly we are able to stay safe without having to use too many chemicals!