Out of the mulch and into the home

How to keep out crawling pests, from spiders to rodents.

Crawling pests often start their journey into your home right from your own yard. This presentation dives into how common landscaping elements—like mulch, ground cover, and clutter—create perfect conditions for pests to thrive and sneak indoors. Learn effective, pest-smart landscaping and home maintenance strategies to protect your home from unwanted invaders year-round.

About the Speaker 

Matt Frye, Ph.D. is the Rodent and Structural Pest Management Specialist with Cornell Integrated Pest Management. He provides education and conducts research on pests that occur in and around buildings where people live, work, learn and play. The focus of Matt’s program is to help people prevent issues with pests such as rodents, bed bugs, ticks, cockroaches, and indoor flies; or to provide management recommendations for existing problems.

About the Cornell IPM Annual Conference

This session is part of the Cornell IPM Annual Conference: Pests at the Perimeter – How Landscape Design Influences Indoor Pest Intrusion. The 2025 conference focuses on how landscape composition and management around buildings influence the intrusion of pests. Experts will share science-based strategies to manage environments around buildings, reducing pest intrusion. This event offers practical insights for landscape and pest management, ideal for Master Gardener Volunteers, educators, pest management professionals, and community members.

Learn more about the full conference lineup on the Cornell IPM Annual Conference page.