The No-Fly Zone: Securing Your Central Texas Home Against Wasps

We may be in a false spring, but the wasps are not aware of it. They are hard at work building nests everywhere you do not want them to be.

How Can We Stop Wasps from Invading Our Space?

I don’t know what YOU did last weekend, but I spent my time searching out red wasps' nests with a can of wasp spray. As you would expect, they were everywhere I did NOT want them to be. So how can we stop them before they take over?

Three Methods to Stop a Wasp Invasion

To prevent wasps from building nests around your home, flapest.com says you need to combine scent-based deterrents, physical barriers, and food source management. Wasps choose nesting sites based on shelter and proximity to food, so making your house "unhospitable" early in the spring is key.

Natural Scent Deterrents

Wasps have a highly sensitive sense of smell and are repelled by specific essential oils.

Essential Oil Spray: Mix a few drops of peppermint, clove, geranium, and lemongrass oils with water and a squirt of dish soap.

Repellent Plants: Grow herbs like spearmint, thyme, basil, and lemongrass. Marigolds and geraniums also act as natural barriers.

The "Soap Trick": Rubbing a bar of dry soap (like Ivory)  makes the surface too slippery for a nest to attach.

Physical Barriers and Decoys

Seal Entry Points: Inspect your home for gaps in siding, cracks in brickwork, or holes in window screens.

Fill Ground Holes: For ground-nesting wasps like yellowjackets, fill any old rodent burrows or holes in your lawn with soil or gravel during the early spring.

Food Management

If you provide a "five-star restaurant," wasps will RSVP.

Manage Trash: Ensure all outdoor garbage cans have tight-fitting lids

Cover Food: When eating outdoors, keep all drinks and food covered.

Feed the Outside Pets Away from the House: Wasps love protein so keep it away from them!

Pick Up Fallen Fruit: If you have fruit trees, harvest early and clear away any rotting fruit on the ground immediately.