I enjoy long walks on the beach, poop, and clean cutlery.

We’ve finished with our summer down here in the Southern Hemisphere, so we’ve going to hand it back to you guys up in the Northern Hemisphere to make use of.
Problem is, we’ve sent you all our flies too. So what can you do to get rid of them without using awful throat-tingling chemicals?

Worry no more. Here are some ideas keep flies away the clean & green way – starting by removing the cause.

Rubbish:
Flies breed in rotting organic material. Therefore you need to make sure your rubbish is in a sealed bag, or has a tight fitting lid. This means you should also check your lawn for doggy-do. If you find dog poop near the house, pick it up with a bag or shovel and throw it at passing cars. No no, that was a joke. Bury it or put it in the trash.
This won’t make a huge difference as flies can fly for several miles, but every little bit helps.

Compost Bins:
Similar to the first topic, try to keep dairy, meat, and vegetable scraps out of your compost bin or worm farm as that will discourage some types of flies. Putting a mosquito net over your worm farm before summer won’t stop the flies from arriving, but if done early it will stop them from breeding and living inside the compost.

Indoor Plants:
Flies sometimes emerge from the soil in pot plants. The easy solution here is to water your plants sparingly. Gnats and flies thrive in damp conditions where’s there’s plenty of organic material.

Fly Paper:
It’s not as popular as it used to be but it works. Fly paper is made of non toxic strips embedded with a chemical or that attracts flies, as well as an adhesive which sticks insects to it like chavs to a bus stop. The flies land on it and are, well, stuck. At this point your inner carnal animal can emerge and you can torture them for making you sick last summer.

Fly Curtains:
If you have people coming in and out of your house regularly, especially children, chances are they’ll bring flies in with them. A simple fly curtain made of strings of beads will greatly reduce the number that do get in.

Citronella oil and candles:
Citronella oil is an essential oil extracted from the different species of Cymbopogon (lemon grass). It’s considered a bio pesticide and non-toxic. Burning a citronella oil candle or incense sticks will not only repel flies, but mosquitoes too. You can also buy special preparations of citronella oil to apply directly to your skin as a fly/mosquito repellent, but it does need to be applied more often than synthetic repellents.

Mint:
Crushed mint can be placed in bowls or cloth bags and placed strategically around the home near common entrances.

Eucalyptus Oil:
Sprinkle a little eucalyptus oil on a scrap of cloth and place near entrances.

Fly Repellent Plants:
Some species of plants you may be able to grow in your yard depending on your local climate conditions can help discourage flies. These include Lemon balm, Catnip, Mint, Chrysanthemums and Marigolds.

Flyscreens:
OK, so this is a no-brainer I guess; but small holes in flyscreens are easy to miss – so it’s a good idea to check them regularly during the season. The added benefit will be to prevent mosquitoes from annoying you (or worse).