Photo: Anete Lusina

Does gravel prevent bugs?

Installing a gravel buffer around the perimeter of your home, and keeping it dry, will deter many bugs from getting too close. Gravel is great for filling in moist areas, as well. Bugs love puddles and wet soil. If these areas are against the house, you're asking for trouble.

bigbluebug.com - Fall Home Improvements To Prevent Pests - Big Blue Bug Solutions

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Category: Fall Pests

Keeping bugs away from your foundation walls can go a long way to preventing them from coming inside the house. Installing a gravel buffer around the perimeter of your home, and keeping it dry, will deter many bugs from getting too close. Gravel is great for filling in moist areas, as well. Bugs love puddles and wet soil. If these areas are against the house, you're asking for trouble. But rocks in your yard, that have moist pockets under them, can also be a nesting area for bugs. Lift those rocks and put gravel underneath, to deter bugs from thriving. Other helpful prevention tips include, Keep moist leaves, wood piles, and construction materials, away from your house. Bugs love these, and they will take full advantage of being close to your home. Keep trees cut back, so bugs and critters can't drop onto your roof. Use a caulking gun to seal up cracks around windows, air conditioners, pipes, outlets, meters, and vents. Caulking is also good for sealing up cracks in siding.

Keep leaves raked up in your yard, and keep your lawn trimmed.

Have a professional spray your yard to kill mosquitoes and fleas before they can pester you.

Weed your gardens. Excess green in your flower beds will invite pests.

Have the outside of your house sprayed by a professional. They can get hard to reach places, like: the shingle cracks on your roof, sills, and second story windows. Check all your screens, and add screens to attic vents, or across your chimney. Put wire mesh at the bottom of your downspouts, to keep rodents and bugs from crawling up, and getting access to higher, more vulnerable, areas of your home. Scout around your yard, and remove small wasp nests that have cropped up. If you find a larger one, make sure to get a professional involved. Wasps can sting multiple times, and are known to swarm if their nest is threatened. Don't forget the flying bugs. Get up on your roof and check for cracks. While you're up there, take a mirror and look under your eaves. You would be surprised how many large holes can be up there. Fill them in with spray-in expansion foam to protect your attic from rodents, bats, and wasps. Check weather stripping on doors and examine the bottoms of your doors. If there is even ¼ of an inch gap, all kinds of bugs can get in.

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What do you put between soil and gravel?

Before you replace the soil, lay a barrier of lightweight, water-permeable, nonwoven, biodegradable landscape fabric over the stones. Fabric will keep dirt from sifting into the stones. Biodegradable fabric blocks weeds while plants are small, then deteriorates, letting plant roots sink deep as plants mature.

homeguides.sfgate.com - The Barrier Between Drainage Stones and Topsoil - Home Guides

A flower bed at the bottom of a slope, a new vegetable bed dug into heavy clay soil or a low-lying site for a tree are all situations that expose plant roots to standing water. Remove topsoil to a depth of 12 to 15 inches and build a base of river stones or coarse gravel 3 to 4 inches in depth. Add organic matter such as rotted leaf compost to planting soil for additional aeration. Before you replace the soil, lay a barrier of lightweight, water-permeable, nonwoven, biodegradable landscape fabric over the stones. Fabric will keep dirt from sifting into the stones. Biodegradable fabric blocks weeds while plants are small, then deteriorates, letting plant roots sink deep as plants mature. Enriching soil with organic matter at least once every year improves aeration and drainage while adding nutrition for healthy plants.