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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 Suffolk County different?
Suffolk County lots are larger and greener. Many back onto woods, preserves, farmland or wetlands, and new homes are often built into wooded sites. That means rodent pressure comes from the land itself, and the way a lot is cleared, graded and planted decides how easily mice and rats reach the house.
What we look at
- The buffer around the house. A cleared, open zone between the tree line and the foundation, without brush piles, dense shrubs or ground covers leading up to the walls.
- Foundation beds. Set back from the house, with a gravel strip along the base and shallow mulch near the wall.
- Firewood and storage. Woodpiles and stored materials kept off the ground and away from the house and deck.
- Decks, porches and sheds. Built so the space underneath is visible or closed at the perimeter.
- Pools, patios and outdoor kitchens. Compacted bases, sealed edges and a rodent-resistant barrier along the perimeter.
- Trees. Branches kept well back from the roof line, eaves and utility lines.
- Second homes. Low-maintenance plantings and no feeders or fruit near the house while it sits empty.
Working with Graduate
Graduate is based in Suffolk County. Details of the service as a whole are under landscape pest risk mitigation. For the house, see pre-construction pest risk mitigation in Suffolk County. For western Long Island, see Nassau County.
Common questions
Why is the edge of the woods important?
On wooded Suffolk lots, mice and other rodents live in the woods and field edges. Brush, woodpiles and dense plantings that run from the tree line to the foundation give them a protected path to the house. A cleared, open buffer around the house breaks that path.
Where should firewood be stored?
Away from the house and off the ground, never stacked against the foundation or under a deck. Woodpiles are a classic shelter for rodents and insects.
We are building on a new lot. When should landscaping be planned?
Before clearing and grading are finished. How much of the lot is cleared around the house, where beds and patios go and how drainage is handled are much easier to set before construction than to change afterward.
What about pools, patios and outdoor kitchens?
They need the same attention as anywhere else: compacted bases, sealed edges and a rodent- resistant barrier along the perimeter so rats cannot burrow beneath them, and food areas planned so they can be kept clean.
Our house is a second home. Does that change the plan?
Yes. Landscapes that need little upkeep while the house is empty, with no dense ground covers, no feeders and no fallen fruit near the house, help keep a seasonal property from becoming a winter shelter.
How do we get started?
Send the site or landscape plan, or describe the property. We review it, walk the lot, and give you and your landscaper a short list of changes.
Landscape Pest Risk Mitigation in Suffolk County
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.