Nothing ruins a lovely evening outdoors like swarming wasps. These stinging menaces are something you definitely don’t want to encounter as you go in and out your front door, either.

Swipe through to learn how to keep wasps away from the porch.

Keep Things Tidy

If the kids are prone to leaving half-finished juice boxes lying around, be sure to check the front porch now and then to be sure there’s no sugary juice calling out to wasps. The same goes for snacks.

Natural Repellent Scents

Wasps don’t like strong scents such as citrus, peppermint, lavender and citronella. If you’ll be enjoying some time on the porch, maybe light a candle that emits one of these fragrances. Just don’t forget to extinguish the candle before you go in for the night. You can also create a spray with water and a few drops of essential oil.

Photography: Amazon

Scented Plants

You could also decorate your porch with strongly scented plants. Peppermint, for example, because of its tendency to spread like wildfire, is best planted in a container, so a pot of mint would be perfect for the front porch.

Use Vinegar

Vinegar is another natural wasp repellent. Place a dish or two of vinegar on the porch to keep wasps at bay.

Photography: Amazon

Keep an Eye on Things

Do a regular check of the structures around your porch to check for signs of a wasp nest. These industrious bugs often stealthily start constructing a nest before you know it. Keep an eye out and immediately but carefully, dislodge any nests you see.

Soapy Water

If you’re sitting out and notice wasps, zap them with a spray bottle filled with soapy water to kill them. You can also spray this mixture on any nests you find. Be prepared to dash off, though, because before they expire, the wasps will be mad and you don’t want to be in their path.

Decoy Nests

Wasps won’t build a nest near other wasp nests, so fool them by purchasing decoy nests and installing them on your porch. These fake nests trick wasps into thinking your porch is already occupied by another colony, and they’ll look elsewhere.

Photography: Amazon