Help prevent pests from plaguing exteriors & grounds.

Ants. Flies. Bees. Spiders. Rodents. Birds. They're everywhere outdoors, and they make it challenging to maintain a beautiful exterior for a country club or golf course. To preserve the appearance of your facility and prevent guests from encountering pests, you must find ways to minimize pests in your outdoor areas and prevent them from invading nearby buildings.

It's always important to have the appearance of lush trees, green grass, and abundant shrubbery. And when spending so much time and energy on maintaining those exterior grounds, a strong focus should be placed on the issue of pest control. Many pests can be reduced or eliminated by properly maintaining the grounds and following some basic guidelines for exclusion.

Perimeter

One thing to consider when landscaping around a building is where NOT to landscape. It's actually helpful for pest control to maintain a three-foot barrier around buildings without any plantings or mulch, which can attract pests. This might not be your preferred look from a landscaping standpoint, but it helps prevent pest activity in and around the building by significantly reducing moisture and pest harborage.

Soil Moisture

When mulch becomes too deep, it retains moisture, and a variety of insect pests (termites, millipedes, ants, centipedes, ground beetles) can take advantage of that soil moisture and easily infest a structure. Maintaining a mulch depth of no more than two inches will help prevent an infestation.

Irrigation, of course, can also cause issues with soil moisture. When watering your grounds, try to minimize the amount of irrigation immediately around the perimeter of a facility to reduce soil moisture.

In addition, good drainage away from buildings is important, especially around air conditioner units and gutters. Check those areas daily and remove any accumulation of moisture and puddles that would attract pests.

Trees & Shrubs

One thing to consider when trimming trees and shrubs is to keep them from touching any buildings, which would make it easy for pests such as ants to enter. Allow access around the building perimeter for cleaning and proper maintenance of the grounds to avoid any outside infestations or pest entry.

When choosing the trees or shrubs you want to plant, be selective when considering fruit trees. They can be beautiful, but they may not be practical from a pest perspective. Certain types of fruit trees, especially those that drop berries or fruits, attract a wide variety of wasps, bees, other insects, and even birds--whose droppings can be unsightly and a health threat.

Clutter

Clutter often builds up in certain areas around buildings. Pieces of wood debris, planks, or firewood can become hiding places for cockroaches and other pests. Avoid accumulating that type of clutter to reduce the potential for harboring pests.

Outdoor Dining Areas

Outdoor dining areas are popular places for your guests to gather. Food debris and spillage is unavoidable, so those areas should be very well main

tained and cleaned. And, of course, clean trash containers on a daily basis.

Trash Storage

To make it easy to dispose of trash, dumpsters are often located right outside a building. To avoid pests from entering the building, however, dumpsters should be located well away from a facility in an area that's isolated to avoid attracting pests such as bees, wasps, house flies, or fruit flies.

Windows & Doors

It's obvious that flies and other pests can enter buildings through windows and doors, but there are some things you can do to keep it to a minimum.

Window screens need to be functional and in good repair without any holes. Doors should have door sweeps installed on the bottom to prevent rodent entry.

It is especially helpful to encourage employees to keep doors and windows closed, particularly where pest entry has been a problem.

Air Conditioning Units

Air conditioning units should be well-sealed around the edges and sometimes screened since insects can persistently enter through them. They should also be properly maintained on a monthly basis to prevent mold and other build-up that can be attractive to pests, cause odors, and even cause allergic reactions. The drip trays on roof air conditioning units can be especially susceptible to small flies.

Perimeter Exclusion

Around the perimeter of a facility there are pipe and utility entrance points, and they need to be sealed to prevent rodents from entering through small gaps. A house mouse needs only a quarter-inch to enter, and rats can make it through an opening the size of a quarter. Any gap bigger than that should be well-sealed with industrial materials so animals cannot gnaw through it.

Exterior Lighting

Flying insects are drawn to ultraviolet light--especially at night. Halogen or fluorescent white lighting can produce ultraviolet light, so use sodium vapor bulbs whenever possible.

Be careful about how you direct the lighting, too. To further avoid attracting pests, direct the lighting down so that it shines on the building or walkways--not out into the surrounding area where pests can be attracted.

Protecting the Environment

If a pest management company is needed to treat an infestation, applying pesticides is sometimes necessary. Following expert recommendations for landscaping practices, however, can help reduce the number of pests and the need for pesticides. When needed, a certified, well-trained pest control operator will use pesticides legally, according to the label, so the environment is not affected in a negative way.

Whether your facility is in Alabama or Alaska, California or South Carolina, a variety of pests can infest your exterior grounds and invade club structures. Taking the extra steps described above will help ensure the professional appearance of your facility and the comfort and health of your members and guests.

By John Barcay, Ph.D.

RELATED ARTICLE: Types of services for exterior issues.

If it becomes necessary to hire a pest management company for your facility, it's important that the company is knowledgeable in exterior pests, their biology, and their habits. Ultimately, a good pest management company will have operators who are well-trained and able to provide solutions for your pest problems. Any type of service begins with a good inspection to find out the type of pests, where they're coming from, and how they're getting into the building. Some of the services provided are as follows:

* Exclusion service would include the installation of door sweeps and patching around utility and plumbing, doors, and windows to prevent pest entry.

* Rodent bait stations can be installed around the perimeter of a building. Rodents find the bait, which will control the rodent population on the exterior. Discreet designs are available so patrons won't notice them.

* Ants are an especially persistent pest. Large infestations can happen very quickly if they're not properly treated, especially since ants communicate food sources to each other. A spray or granular application of specialized product can be used to treat for ants, and there are a variety of effective ant baits.

* A power spray is sometimes necessary, using larger equipment, for large seasonal infestations or flying insects.

* Bird exclusion is an option when birds have posed a persistent problem, particularly on ledges. Certain repellants or devices can be applied to prevent them from roosting or nesting in those areas.

* Termites may require specialized soil treatments, along with liquid applications or baits.

--Courtesy of Ecolab Inc.

Dr. John Barcay is a senior scientist for pest elimination at Ecolab Inc., the global leader in cleaning, sanitation, food safety, pest elimination, and health protection products and services for the hospitality, foodservice, healthcare, and industrial markets. He can be reached at [e-mail].