Help/advice needed - fly situation

[Jody79]

HI everyone.  One of our direct neighbors has a couple of dogs that they NEVER clean up after.  As a result we tend to get a lot of flies around our house in the heat of the summer.  We put up a privacy fence a few years ago so we didn't have to look at the piles of S*** every time we went out into our back yard.  It also significantly cut down on the smell, guess that barrier helps.  It has not helped the fly situation, however.  Here's the problem we have.  The entrance to the apartment we offer on ABB is on the side of the house towards the back, down a few steps into a little cove.  It is enclosed on 3-1/2 sides, with the only opening being the entrance down the steps.  This creates a semi-enclosed area that the flies tend to congregate in.  I'm not talking just a few flies, I'm talking A LOT of flies buzzing all around in the space.  For the most part they remain outdoors, as long as the doors are not left open.  It is extremely embarrassing.  I'm waiting for a review that mentions this. 😞

We keep that area swept out and clean.  We've tried putting up that sticky fly paper in the corner, however it only catches a few flies, doesn't do anything to solve the problem.  We tried hanging this 'Raid' bag that was supposed to attract and capture the flies inside the bag.  It does a great job, but unfortunately it does exactly what it says it does...attracts the flies!  Once we figured this out we quickly removed the bag away from the entrance and closer to our neighbor, hoping that it will lure them away from our house and that entrance.  The bag is quickly filling up, but we still have the flies congregating in the entrance area.  Does anyone have any advice for us on how we can discourage flies from congregating in that area?

[Sarah977]

@Jody79  Oh, thanks for letting me know, that was nice of you and glad to hear it worked. There's so many flying insects here in the tropics, I have quite a bit of experience with that 🙂 Funnily enough, the only time I had house flies was when my daughter came to visit when the grandkids were small. She cleaned up after them when they ate, but she missed the fact that kids wipe their greasy, sticky hands on the underside of the table for some mysterious reason. Once I wiped that down with a bleach solution, the flies disappeared. But there's plenty of mosquitoes, no-see-ums, and other lovely creatures.

[Helen427]

@Jody79  How about a small planter with Thyme as that grows well in partial shade?

Would that work as they are generally quite small & confined?

Have you considered perhaps having a wall/ hanging planter if space permits on your wooden fence instead of on the ground?
You may also like to have a plant or two in the window inside to repel any flies that may like to coming inside.

[Jody79]

@Helen427 I will try the Thyme.  I need to add some interest to the cove area of the entrance anyway as it currently looks kinda like a dungeon right now.  We are planning to hire a local handyman to give it a 'finished' look this Fall.  We had avoided putting anything in the space this Summer trying to deal with the fly situation.  But now that we seem to have it under control, we can start playing around with ways to both deter the flies and make the entrance more inviting.

[Helen427]

@Jody79 

I had a look at your listing, as I should have done prior to my earlier post & then had a look online what plants would best suit a shady place that repel flies.

Keep us updated as and when your project goes ahead, maybe incorporate, some colourful flowers like Busy Lizzies if you like them as they grow well in shady areas to although I'm not sure if they repel Flies!

All the best