A Dozen 10-Minute DIYs for a Pest-Free Home

Keep mosquitoes and biting flies from crashing your patio party with appropriately-themed wine bottle tiki torches. Fill a few empty glass bottles one- to two-thirds full with sand, small stones, or marbles. Then pour citronella-scented lamp oil in up to the neck of each bottle—this will give you several hours of burn time. Drill holes through the corks and thread a piece of cotton rope through it, with enough length to reach to the sand or stones at the bottom and an inch exposed above the cork. As soon as the wick soaks up the oil, light and enjoy a bug-free backyard.

Related: Pests, Be Gone! 10 Natural Ways to Make Your Home Critter-Free

Another method for turning ants away from your picnicing zones involves mixing 1 cup borax with ½ cup flour. Carefully sprinkle the clumped solution around the foundation of your house. Note: Borax can be toxic if ingested by people or pets, so don't use this around the house if you have young children or small animals.

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It might seem like a shame to waste a good brewski, but beer will help rid your garden of slugs practically overnight. Take a wide-mouthed plastic or glass container, then bury it about two-thirds in the ground and fill'er up about a quarter of the way with beer. The fermented yeast in the drink will attract slugs, causing them to fall in and drown. Empty the container every day or so and refresh the beer until your slug problems are a thing of the past.

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If beetles are giving you trouble in the garden, whip up this recipe to protect your plants. Soak 2 cups of chopped tomato leaves in a pint of water overnight, strain to remove the leaves, then add another pint of water and 1/4 teaspoon liquid soap. Spray foliage and soil with this diluted mixture as needed. This solution also works against earworms and maggots.

Related: 6 Common Houseplant Pests—and How to Get Rid of Them

Nematodes—tiny parasitic worms that live in the soil—as well as caterpillars and grasshoppers can wreak havoc on your vegetable garden. But molasses “tea” can be the natural solution for helping preserve your produce. To make, dissolve 3 tablespoons of molasses in 4 cups of warm water in a spray bottle, and shake well. Spray on your plants and the ground around them every few days to keep these pests at bay.

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Save your friends and family from stings this season with a homemade wasp trap. Cut a recycled water bottle in half, inverting the top (the bottleneck) and slipping it inside the bottom half like a funnel and tape together. Then fill with a seasonally appropriate bait: In spring, wasps go for grease from cooked meat with water and a little dish soap, but in summer they're more attracted to sugary fruit preserves with water and dish soap. The buzzing pests will fly in easily, but won't be able to leave out through the funnel's small hole.

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