Now that winter is officially over, it’s time to start thinking about getting your yard in shape for the warmer months ahead. Winter can take its toll on your yard, and you most likely won’t notice most of the damage that has been done until your first-yard cleanup of the spring season. Winter weather can compact your soil as well as create conditions that are friendly to weeds and disease. It is essential that you thoroughly clean, fertilize and mow over-grown lawn early in the season. Winter may have left some bare spots on your lawn or invasive plants growing in unwanted areas. A healthy summer lawn starts with proper spring maintenance. Spring is a prime time to get your lawn in shape when the sun is shining bright but there is still a cool breeze in the air.

Timely Lawn Maintenance

One of the most important aspects of spring lawn care is to make sure that your lawn has as many opportunities as possible to gently come back to its full potential during the early spring months. If this is done correctly, the sun and soil will do a lot of the work for you. However, starting lawn maintenance too early can have a negative effect on the outcome of your lawn. It is best to let your lawn begin to slowly awaken on its own. If you happen to start yard maintenance before your lawn becomes fully green, you run the risk of compacting the grass or even killing new grass before it has a chance to mature. It is important that you wait until your grass has turned mostly green before you even begin to think about mowing or treating it in the spring.

Raking and Dethatching

Raking is an essential part of preparing your lawn for spring maintenance. Your lawn needs a thorough and deep raking before you begin to mow or treat the grass. Raking up your lawn will allow you to pull up any thatch that may have accumulated over the winter. Raking will also give you the opportunity to find any dead spots or compacted areas that will require special attention once you begin your lawn maintenance.

Tackling spring lawn care on your own can be an overwhelming task. Hiring a professional to come in and do the dirty work has many benefits and will leave your lawn looking beautiful and totally prepared for the warm months ahead. Rentokil will clean your lawn up from any damage the winter did and get your yard in tip-top, spring shape; looking beautiful and welcoming for summer. Contact Rentokil for the best lawn care service available.

During the summer, pests are a lot more active than during the cooler months of the year. But with the heat comes the increased presence of pests that can threaten your family. Ants, stinging pests and other bugs can be annoying if they get into your home, but mosquitoes and ticks pose the greatest threat. Along with being a nuisance like other pests, mosquitoes and tick are known for spreading diseases to people and pets. Mosquitoes spread numerous diseases such as malaria, West Nile Virus, and dengue fever and ticks are known to carry and spread Lyme disease. Although not all of these diseases are common in the United States, cases of West Nile Virus and Lyme disease have increased in frequency in recent years.

To prevent bites from mosquitoes and ticks, make sure to wear bug spray when spending excessive time outdoors. Ticks are especially prevalent in woodsy areas and in tall grass so be careful to wear bug spray on hikes and especially when camping. After hiking, check for ticks and don’t forget to check pets after hikes and before bringing them indoors, especially inside their ears. Maintaining your own property can also help to prevent ticks from taking up residence in your yard. Although mosquitoes are essentially ubiquitous, maintaining your yard, especially by removing any standing water, can help prevent the spread and reproduction of mosquitoes.

Although these steps and more can be taken to prevent pest problems, mosquito infestations and the spread of ticks is still possible. If you suspect your property may have any pest infestation or have questions about how Rentokil can resolve your pest control needs, call us today for a free evaluation!

Keeping Insects at Bay in My Home

So how can you prevent having insect problems in and around your home?  There are several things you can do to help prevent insects from becoming a problem in your house.

Start Outside

Carefully inspect the exterior of your home.  What type of shrubs or plants do you have up against your home?  Are they touching the home or are they neatly trimmed back away from the house.  Are they plants that will attract aphids which will then attract ants and wasps, or any other type of pest that you would like to keep away from your home?  Are there shrubs that provide great cover for spiders around your house and bring them in close proximity to your home?  Evergreen shrubs like Pfizer’s are often a real hot spot for spiders and were very common in landscapes years ago.  If you do have issues with the shrubs planted against your house, pull them out.  By making a permanent change you can get rid of an ongoing problem for good.

Also look at what type of ground cover or mulch you have up against your house which can be a popular hangout for earwigs, millipedes, and a great breeding ground for many insects.  Products like bark, that are found around many homes hold moisture well and can be a great breeding place for a variety of insect problems and hard to treat because of the very porous and absorbent service.  Consider putting a river rock or another type of rock there instead to provide a better option for insect control.

The next thing to look at is the home itself.  Are all of your exterior door sweeps tight?  Can you see daylight coming under the door?  Is all of your exterior caulking around trim, windows, siding, or other areas in good repair?  Caulking can shrink over its lifespan and create gaps that need to be repaired.  Do you have any holes around utility lines coming into the house like power, gas, exterior hose bibs, and air conditioning lines?  Also inspect crawl space, cold storage room, and attic vent screens to make sure there aren’t any holes in these allowing insects to enter easily.  Make sure if there are any large holes that allow insects the chance to get inside that they are sealed with an appropriate product.  Also, inspect your window screens and make sure they are in great shape and won’t allow insects to enter if you open the windows to get some fresh outside air.

Inside the Home

Now it’s time to look inside your home.  Where could insects thrive inside your home?  Do you have dark un-kept corners that you haven’t looked at for a while and that haven’t been disturbed?  These types of areas are popular hangouts for spiders as they don’t like to be disturbed.  Do you have any cracks around your baseboards that could be sealed with an application of caulk?  Can you see any daylight coming underneath your exterior doors which would allow insects to easily come under?  Door weather-stripping will eventually wear out and needs to be replaced on occasion.  Do your pipes coming out from under your sinks or other areas have the trim rings on them placed right against the wall to seal these openings as good as possible?

What about the food in your kitchen?  Are all of your products like flour, cereals, pet food, pancake mix, and other grain products sealed in airtight containers?  This will prevent you from having problems with Indian meal moth, weevil, or any other pest which may infest these types of products.  Are there any spilled food items in the cupboards in your kitchen or on your floor that should be cleaned up?  The cleaner your kitchen is the less likely you will have ants, cockroaches, or other types of pests become a problem.  Taking your garbage out often is also a good idea.  If you don’t have what they are looking for they will go elsewhere!

Get Professional Help

Regular professional pest control is a very good way to prevent pest problems before they become an issue.  Professionals know what to look for and how to treat correctly to protect you and your home from unwanted pests.  With proper exterior and interior treatments, most pests can be controlled and kept out of your home.  They can also inspect your home for the items mentioned above and assist you in your quest for a pest-free home!  If you are going to apply products to control pests around your home seek the assistance of a professional who has the skills and knowledge to make safe, targeted control treatments.

Bed bugs have quickly become the pest of concern across the nation.  They are small reddish-brown insects about 3/16 of an inch in size (approximately the size of an apple seed) that feed on the blood of human hosts.  They can be in hotels, transportation like taxi cabs, airplanes, trains, and buses; even places like movie theaters and department stores.  They don’t care if it’s a five-star hotel or a one-star hotel, or how clean an area is.  They can infest any type of indoor area.

So how do you get bed bugs?  By being in any of these places you can get bed bugs, but there are tips and tricks to avoiding them that you should know.  Bed bug bites can affect all people differently but typically they are on your upper body area and look like red mosquito or spider bites and can become very itchy for some people.  If you are concerned you may have bed bugs seek the help of a professional pest management company that has experience and training in bed bug control.

Travelers’ tips to prevent bed bugs from coming home with you:

1. Travel with duffle bag style luggage. These bags have minimal seams (i.e., hiding places for bugs) and can be laundered easily if infested.
2. When checking in to a hotel, leave your possessions in your car. First, go to your room and inspect the mattress (remove bedding), box springs (top and bottom), the bed frame and where the frame meets the floor, headboards (many headboards attached to the wall are removable), baseboards, furniture, and pictures near the bed.
3. Examine all surfaces for signs of an infestation, such as tiny rust-colored spots or fecal spotting.
4. Bed bugs typically come out in the early morning hours to feed, but during the day they will usually hide within a 5-foot radius of the bed.
5. Plastic bedbug-proof encasements are available for your luggage.
6. Place your luggage as far away from the bed area as possible and avoid putting it on the floor. It is best to elevate it off the floor or put it in an area with hard surfaces such as the bathroom.
7. Upon waking, thoroughly check the pillowcases and bedding for bed bug fecal spots (will look like small, dark blotches of ink). If you see spots, assume your room has bed bugs and that they are in your possessions.
8. Carefully inspect your luggage when repacking and when you return home. Always keep luggage off of the bed and store it in an area beside your bedroom.
9. Place all your clothing and duffle bag immediately in the dryer for at least 15 minutes at the highest setting upon returning home from travel. The heat from drying will kill any bugs or eggs.

Rentokil strives each day to make good on the promise it gives to each of its valued customers and clients. To make sure we succeed in becoming the best service provider in the state, we have created the Rentokil Mission Statement.

Our Mission Statement:

“We believe that exceptional service plays a critical role in the relationships and partnerships we create with our clients. Our theory is one of building our business on great service, and by providing it at a level that you will not find anywhere else. We refuse to quit until we exceed our client’s expectations, and our greatest accomplishment is their complete and utmost satisfaction.”