Keeping the Bugs Out This Summer

It’s summer time, the garage doors are open and you’re in the middle of your last set of squats when an uninvited summer guest stings you right between the shoulder blades! No bueno.

So what are the best, most cost-effective ways to keep the bugs out of your garage this summer? We asked experts for their top tips:

Get Rid of Standing Water and Bushes It’s a home gym, so you likely have some heavy tires somewhere around for flipping, tire jumps or dragging. But those tires can collect water and serve as a mosquito breeding ground. You don’t want to get rid of your tires, but nobody enjoys mosquito bites either, so you have a couple of options:

1. Drill small holes in the tire to allow rainwater to drain out. This will prevent water from pooling in the tire and creating a space for mosquitoes to lay eggs.

2. Move the tires as far away from your garage door as possible to reduce the likelihood that pests will find their way to your open garage door raid across the threshold.

The reason you want to remove bushes is because mosquitoes prefer shade to lay eggs, and removing bushes, potted plants and other sources of shade from near your garage door help encourage them to find another campsite.

This is also why you want to keep your grass neatly trimmed.

Let’s say you don’t want to get rid of your prize azalea bushes (aka your wife says you don’t touch her plants) here are some other options:

Consider having your yard treated. This isn’t a perfect solution, because unless you get your neighbors on board at the same time, some mosquitoes will still fly over to visit from your neighbors untreated yard. But it will give you some relief and most pest control techs will also give you some DIY tips for further prevention while they are on your property.

Invest in a garage door screen. These are typically fairly easy to install and even if you choose not to leave it up all of the time, a good product can be taken down and put up in less than five minutes. Small price to pay for peace and quiet during your workout.

Experiment with Citronella based products. If you’re not a fan of spraying yourself just to deadlift, you can always set some small citronella candles on either side of the garage entrance.

Again, this isn’t a perfect solution because a few bugs will likely shoot the gap, but it will help by narrowing their avenue of opportunity.

Bonus Tip: Another trick to try is setting a fan to blow across the garage door entrance. The cross breeze MIGHT make it tougher for winged invaders to cross the threshold on a raid.