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Four questions, answered by a person within one business day. If it is urgent, call: the line is answered at any hour.
Part of Landscape Pest Risk Mitigation, across New York City and Long Island.
What makes the Bronx different?
The Bronx combines large apartment buildings with courtyards, rows of two- and three-family houses with rear yards, and new developments with landscaped grounds. It also carries some of the city’s heaviest rat pressure. The Health Department has reported that in Highbridge and Concourse, nearly half of inspected locations failed for signs of rats, and the Grand Concourse area is one of four designated Rat Mitigation Zones.
In conditions like that, the grounds around a building are not decoration. They are either part of the rodent problem or part of the solution.
What we look at
- Courtyard beds. Set back from building walls, with hard edges along the base and open plantings that leave the soil visible.
- Refuse areas. Hard-surfaced, enclosed and placed away from planting and entrances, sized for lidded containers.
- Paving. Well-built bases and sealed edges so rats cannot burrow beneath walkways and patios.
- Rear yards. No double fencing, sheds on slabs, gardens away from the house and compost in closed units.
- Drainage and irrigation. Water directed away from foundations and cellar areas.
- New developments. Site plans reviewed before they are final, so refuse, planting and drainage support the building’s pest program.
Working with Graduate
For building owners and managers, the approach is laid out in full under landscape pest risk mitigation. For the building itself, see pre-construction pest risk mitigation in the Bronx.
Common questions
Why do building grounds matter so much in the Bronx?
Parts of the borough have some of the city's heaviest rat activity. The Grand Concourse area is a designated Rat Mitigation Zone. In those conditions, a courtyard bed or a refuse area beside the building is often where the population lives, feeding a problem inside.
What should a courtyard planting plan avoid?
Dense ground covers, beds built directly against the building wall, deep mulch and loose soil beside cellar windows and doors. Open plantings, hard edges along the building and well-built paving give rats far less to work with.
Where should refuse be kept?
In a hard-surfaced, enclosed area away from planting beds and building entrances, with lidded containers. Refuse next to soil and plantings is the combination that supports a rat population.
We are building a new development. When should landscaping be reviewed?
Before the site plan is final. Locations of refuse areas, planting beds, paving and drainage are hard to change after construction, and getting them right supports the pest control program for the life of the building.
Can existing grounds be improved?
Yes. Many changes, such as removing ground cover from building walls, adding gravel strips and rebuilding refuse areas, can be made during routine landscape work. We can prioritize them by impact.
How do we start?
Send the site or landscape plan, or photos of existing grounds. We review it, walk the property, and give the owner and designer a clear list of changes.
Landscape Pest Risk Mitigation in the Bronx
Start with a free consultation
A consultation is a phone call with us about your problem. You tell us what you are seeing, where in the building, and how long it has been going on, and we tell you what it most likely is and what it will take to fix. There is no charge for the call.
Work like this starts with a paid on-site inspection. We go through the building, find how the problem is getting in and why it is staying, and give you a written plan and scope of work. The inspection fee is quoted before the visit and is credited toward the job if you go ahead.
Call (631) 212-9601Schedule an inspection
Answered at any hour.