Make your own... natural pest control.

l Ants: wash or spray surfaces with vinegar. Sprinkle chilli powder, salt or peppermint as a barrier.

l Cockroaches: leave a sugar-borax mix in trays. (Borax is poisonous; keep trays out of reach of children.) Spray cupboards with a mix of vanilla essence and water, or scatter bay leaves. Make a trap from a half-full glass of beer with the inside walls greased.

l Flies: use flyscreens and swatters. Add peppermint to pot-pourri.

l Mice: scatter mint, wipe surfaces with peppermint oil. Use mouse traps.

l Mosquitoes: burn citronella candles. Plant sweet basil. Avoid stagnant water in the garden.

l Moths: camphor wood balls, cedarwood oil or sachets with a mix of lavender, cloves, mint and/or rosemary in wardrobes.

l Spiders: tolerate non-venomous spiders in the house and garden - they eat flies, mosquitoes and other insects.

l Weevils/silverfish: put bay leaves in bags of rice and flour.

© Mark Mann / EcoDirectory