If you have trees around your home with leaves that frequently fall onto your roof and into your home gutters, then you are not just putting the health of your roof in danger --- you may also be putting the health of your family in danger. While you may know that a roof full of debris can lead to roof rotting, warping, and the growth of moss and algae, you may not realize that that these moist debris make a great home for many pests. Here are two pests that can live and breed on a roof full of tree leaves and other debris that you can prevent by keeping your trees trimmed properly.
1. Mosquitoes
Keeping your yard free of mosquitoes is more important now than ever with the Zika virus epidemic potentially making its way up way to the US. Mosquitoes love standing water and moist debris, and female mosquitoes lay their eggs in water. The number one way to reduce mosquitoes in your yard is to clear all standing water as soon as it accumulates. Many people follow this advice and regularly clear puddles, but since the roof and gutters are out of their line of vision, forget completely about these potential huge mosquito breeding grounds.
It would be unrealistic to commit to clearing all debris off your roof every day or cleaning your gutters out daily, since they are both tough tasks. However, you can commit to having your trees trimmed regularly, so the leaves and small branches never have a chance to fall on your roof and into your gutters in the first place.
2. Cockroaches
The ideal home environment for cockroaches is warm and moist, and warm damp leaves and other roof debris are favorite homes and breeding grounds for American cockroaches. American cockroaches are not only one of the largest types of the often-dreaded insect, but they can also fly. That means that if cockroaches begin living and breeding in the damp tree leaves and limbs on your roof, all it takes is one female flying from your roof into your home and laying eggs indoors to quickly start an indoor infestation.
The small, bacteria-ridden critters can also easily squeeze through any cracks in the exterior of your home, through a dryer vent, or through your heating or air conditioning ducts into your home.
Like with mosquitoes, the easiest way to keep your roof and home gutter system from being a hospitable environment for cockroaches is to have any trees with limbs that span close to your roof trimmed regularly.
If you have trees with limbs and branches that span above your gutter and/or roof, then realize that it is not only important to have these branches trimmed for the health and longevity of your roof, but also to prevent many home pests. Roofs covered in leaves and other tree debris make great homes and breeding ground for many insects and small animals, just two being mosquitoes and cockroaches, that can wreak havoc on your health and the health of your family.
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