This week, a customer planning a landscape overhaul asked me what types of plants I would use around my own home. Currently the landscaping at my house is exactly the way the previous owner left it--a few yews in the front and north side and rose bushes along the back and south side. But the question got me to thinking... what would I do differently if I was re-landscaping?

Here are some wise rules a bug-man would follow--in no particular order:

• Don't allow any plant at its full size to touch the fascia (stucco, siding, brick, etc.).
• Don't use peonies near the house. They draw ants.
• Try to avoid using bushes that grow low to the ground and trap leaves. If you do use them, keep them trimmed several inches above the ground.
• Use rock or rubber mulch, not wood mulch. As dead wood, mulch is a decaying organic material, and bugs love to feed on it.
• Don't allow ivy of any kind to grow on the house.
• Keep all mulch, soil, rock, or other landscape material lower than the seam where foundation and fascia meet.
• Make sure that the soil tapers away from the house to facilitate proper drainage.

Of course, landscaping is a personal, aesthetic decision for any homeowner, and there are many factors to take into consideration. The above tips are just things to keep in mind from a pest control and prevention standpoint.

Tis the season for trimming, mulching, and mowing.  Here are some quick tips that might prevent a bug invasion.

I arrived at a house yesterday that had just had the landscapers "freshen everything up" earlier that morning. The workers had pruned the roses, mowed the grass and added fresh mulch.

Pest control professionals have a love/hate relationship with mulch. We love the business it generates, but we hate the headaches it creates. Just as mulch creates an insulated, moisture-stabile environment for plants, so too does it for bugs.

While we concede that homeowners and landscapers are going to use mulch, it really bugs us when the mulch obscures the foundation. That vertical concrete or stone base is your first line of defense between the bug world and our world. Without it, all of the crawling pests from termites to ants to boxelder bugs have free and hidden access to your home.  It also means that to create an effective chemical barrier, we must either use tremendous amounts of insecticide or rake the mulch away, treat and then rake it back, with only so-so results.

Every 2-3 years you should remove the old mulch and replace with new, rather than continually adding more each year.

Your Pest Control Operator is like your general practitioner M.D. for your house. While construction and remodeling companies may be the surgeons who correct major mechanical ailments, your Pest Control Operator is the person you go to when your home has a temporary outside invader (like a virus) who needs to be sent packing. Like your doctor, your pest professional should listen to your symptoms and prescribe a treatment plan that works for your home and is an appropriate level of response, cost and material for the particular external attacker - in this case, your bugs or rodents.

Like a patient, each home has its own built-in genetics, environmental contributors, and prior health issues that make it more or less susceptible to attack. A home in the woods that doesn't receive any preventative maintenance like caulking and painting will tend to have more pest issues than one built in the city that is well maintained. Much the same way as a person who has a high stress job and never exercises will tend to have more health problems than an active, care-free individual.

A competent Pest Management Professional will assess these factors, listen to your needs, concerns and preferences, and suggest a service plan that will solve the current situation and ward off future ailments. Beware of Pest Control Operators who offer one-size-fits-all solutions without listening to your particular circumstances.

Are you seeing gnats or smallish flies on a bathroom and wondering why? Especially if this is a bathroom that is rarely used, you are likely seeing moth flies. A persistent, fowl aroma in an unused bathroom can be another clue indicating moth flies. Moth flies are the third most common and the largest of what we commonly call "gnats" or "nats." The two most common are fruit flies, which eat rotting vegetation, and fungus gnats, who hang around potted plant soil. Unlike most gnats, with wings resting in line with their bodies, moth fly wings are at a 45 degree angle to their bodies. Those wings are also very distinctive, looking fuzzy or dusty.

These little flies normally reside in the sewer pipes below our homes and beyond, feeding on "late-stage, decaying organic material." (Don't make me say it.) Moth flies usually only enter our homes when a drain, or P-trap, has become dry. The P-trap is U-shaped pipe under the sink and below showers, tubs, and toilets, primarily to keep sewer fumes from wandering into our homes. When plumbing drains are inactive for very long periods of time, the water in these P-traps can evaporate, allowing both gases and pests access to our homes.

The good news is that the fix couldn't be easier. Run water in the sink, shower, tub, or toilet that is suspected of being dry. For a more long-term fix in a really rarely used drain, you can substitute cooking oil; add about a tablespoon of cooking oil to the drain to create an oil slick on the surface to slow the evaporation process. This tip will work equally well on dry floor drains, too. One final caution: If you have a drain that runs dry in a matter of days or weeks, you may have a serious plumbing problem that requires the attention of a qualified plumber.