Pest Control

No one wants pests. We're happy to share some tips on how to prevent them.

• Dispose of trash in closed metal buckets and/or containers. Do not leave trash or trash bags outside.
• Keep your house tidy.
• Make sure branches and shrubs don’t touch the house, and prune them regularly; clean up the pruning waste and dispose of it. Tip: Set up a shelter for a hedgehog somewhere sheltered in your yard. Hedgehogs are natural predators of snails, spiders, and even (young) mice.
• Store food in sealed containers or jars, including pet food.
• Do not feed birds in places where rats can get to the food, and remove any uneaten food in the evening. Do not scatter birdseed, chicken feed, bread for ducks, or similar items on the ground. Also, be sure to clean up any food scraps from your patio.
• Make an aviary pest-proof.
• Compost piles can attract rats, so keep a close eye out for holes and/or burrows in the area and keep the compost pile moist to speed up the composting process. This will make it an unattractive habitat for rats, for example.
• Seal gaps under doors, garden doors, and shed doors using a door brush.
• Seal cracks, holes, and gaps with weatherstripping paste or sealant, or with stainless steel mesh with openings no larger than 5 mm. Install wasp guards over open expansion joints. Consider using grates over ventilation openings. Be aware that a rat only needs a space as small as 1 cm (a mouse, as little as 0.5 cm) to get inside.
• Repair sewer damage immediately.
• Clean out attics and storage areas.
• Aphids can secrete a sticky substance, but they are not harmful. Therefore, no action is generally taken against them. You can easily remove the sticky substance (from cars, for example) with lukewarm soapy water.

Due to climate change and higher average temperatures, pests—such as insects—are thriving more and more in our climate. It is important to prevent these “invasive alien species,” as they are called, from becoming comfortable here and establishing themselves permanently.

As a municipality, we are making our public spaces greener and more diverse wherever possible by adjusting our mowing practices, creating herb-rich and flower-rich grasslands, and planting bulbs and flowering perennials. More greenery provides more shade and increases evaporation, thereby limiting average temperature rise; every little bit helps. You can help too—for example, by adding more greenery to your garden, but also by providing space for natural predators such as hedgehogs. Parasitic wasps and birds are also vital to the Dutch ecosystem. So consider hanging birdhouses and insect hotels in your garden.

A green garden; a healthy garden!