The Magic of Using Mulch in Your Yard

If you’re a homeowner who’s done any kind of landscaping, then you’re probably already familiar with the use of mulch. Spreading mulch around your yard helps to slow down erosion, replenish nutrients, and insulate plant roots. This can be very beneficial to improving the look of your overall landscape, especially in areas such as flower beds.

That being said, homeowners are often concerned with what they use in their landscape because of potential pests. This is why we often get asked, does mulch attract termites to your property? Today, we’re going to answer this question and then explain how you can prevent these wood-eating critters.

Does Mulch Attract Termites to Your Home?

Homeowners who use mulch may be concerned that it’ll attract termites. After all, mulch is often made of wood, and we all know how much termites love to eat wood. The good news is that mulch typically doesn’t attract termites like other types of wood. In fact, certain kinds of wood-based mulches, such as redwood, cedar, and cypress mulch, will actually repel termites and other types of insects.

However, this doesn’t mean there’s no cause for concern. Even though termites might not use mulch as a food source, it can act as a shelter from harsh weather. If you’re not careful, this can lead to termites getting inside your home.

How to Prevent Termites in Your Mulch

Even though mulch won’t attract termites and may even repel them, it’s best to not take any chances because they could use the mulch as a conduit into your home. Here are a few techniques you can use to prevent termites from using mulch to get into your home:

• Move Mulch Away — Many homeowners love the look of wood mulch, but there are alternatives that are often better for keeping termites away. Two of the most popular are rubberized mulch and gravel, both of which have their own unique appearance and work great in any landscape.
• Choose  an Alternative — When you place mulch against your foundation or close to it, termites can easily travel from the mulch to your property. You can prevent this by moving the mulch several feet away.
• Use Mulch Sparingly — If you insist on using mulch as part of your landscape, you can simply choose to use it sparingly. If you avoid thick layers of mulch, it’ll be much less likely that termites will use it as a refuge and a conduit into your home.

Other Ways to Prevent Termites at Home

Whether or not you have mulch in your yard for termites to use as shelter, these wood-devouring critters may become a problem. Luckily, there are some simple steps you can follow to help prevent a termite colony from forming on your property. Follow these four strategies and you’ll avoid termite damage:

Remove Water from Your Home

Termites are drawn to water and other types of moisture in your yard. If the moisture is near your foundation or in your crawl space, this could easily lead to termites getting inside. Check for any moisture around the edges of your home’s foundation and any crawl space on a regular basis, especially after it’s rained.

Remove Wood from the Ground

Even though mulch may not attract termites, they’re always on the lookout for other types of wood in your yard. This includes wooden structures along with any dead wood such as fallen branches, rotting tree trunks, dead plants/flowers, etc. Removing these items from the ground will make your overall property much less attractive to termites.

Hire a Professional Once Per Year

Homeowners aren’t usually proactive when it comes to termites. This is why there’s often severe damage by the time these wood-eating insects are discovered. To avoid this, you should hire a professional pest control company for an annual termite inspection. They’ll search your entire property and then provide you with termite treatment options if any are found.

Contact ProHealth Pest Control for Termite Control

Even though mulch doesn’t attract termites, they may still use the mulch to get inside your home. ProHealth Pest Control can eliminate these pests and any others that have invaded your property. If you have any questions or would like to set up an appointment, reach out to us at (727) 310-0521 today.