Pest control in Faerie Glen is shaped by the nature reserve and the Moreleta Spruit. Homes near the rocky slopes see scorpions and spiders, gardens lose lawn to harvester termites in winter, and rodents and mosquitoes follow the water. Combat Pest Control serves Faerie Glen from Johannesburg, starting with an inspection and treating the cause rather than the symptoms.
A suburb built around open ground
Faerie Glen is an established Pretoria East suburb of family homes on decent stands, with townhouse and cluster complexes filling in around them. What sets it apart is the Faerie Glen Nature Reserve: a stretch of rocky hillside, grassland and the Moreleta Spruit running right through the residential streets. Many properties back onto the reserve or onto open green belts along the water.
That's lovely for walking the dog, and it means the boundary wall is often the only thing between your garden and wild veld. Pests don't have to travel far to reach you. Pretoria East is also warmer than Johannesburg and its winters are very dry, which changes which pests show up and when.
Faerie Glen pests, season by season
Early summer: ants and flying termites
When the first storms arrive, ants pour in along skirting boards and kitchen counters, and termite swarmers come out of the ground in their thousands. A swarm in the garden is normal. Swarmers coming out of a door frame or a skirting board inside the house are not, and that's worth a call. For ants we use baits the workers carry back to the nest, which works far better than spraying the trail.
Mid-summer: scorpions, spiders and mosquitoes
Homes against the reserve's rocky slopes get scorpions coming in at night, usually under doors and through gaps around garage doors. Gauteng has two broad kinds: scorpions with thick tails and small pincers, which have the more serious sting, and flat rock scorpions with big pincers that hide in cracks. We treat the perimeter, the garage and the rockery with a residual barrier and show you where to seal. Our scorpion control page explains how to tell the types apart. Near the spruit, standing water in pot plant saucers, blocked gutters and pool covers adds mosquitoes to the list.
Autumn and winter: rodents and harvester termites
As nights get cold, rats and mice that spent summer along the spruit move into roof spaces and garages. And in the dry months harvester termites go to work on lawns, cutting the grass and leaving bare patches dotted with small holes and loose soil. They're one of the most common Pretoria East calls we get. They don't touch the house, but they can strip a kikuyu lawn in weeks. Read more about our termite treatments, which cover both harvester and subterranean termites.
How we work in Faerie Glen
Every job starts on foot. We walk the house, the roof space if we can get in, the garage and the garden boundary, because in Faerie Glen the problem usually starts at the back wall or in the rockery. Then we match the treatment to the pest:
- lockable, tamper-resistant bait stations for rats and mice, with traps inside the roof;
- a targeted treatment of active harvester termite holes, so workers carry it down to the colony;
- odourless, non-staining barrier treatments around the perimeter for scorpions, spiders and crawling insects;
- gel and granular baits for ants and cockroaches.
For complexes, we prefer to treat common gardens and boundary walls in one go, because pests from the reserve don't stop at unit lines.
The thing people get wrong here
Watering a harvester termite patch harder, or paving over it. Neither touches the colony, which lives well below the surface, and the termites simply move to the next dry patch of lawn. Treating the active holes while the termites are foraging is what stops them.
A Faerie Glen tip
If your stand backs onto the reserve or a green belt, keep a strip along the back wall clear of rock piles, firewood and dense groundcover. That bare strip removes the cover scorpions and rodents use to reach the house, and makes any activity easy to spot.
What it costs and why
Cost depends on what we're treating and how big the property is. A harvester termite treatment for a typical lawn is a fairly contained job. A full perimeter treatment for scorpions on a large stand against the reserve takes longer, and structural termite work is quoted after a proper inspection. Complexes are priced per site. You can see the guide "from" prices on our treatment price list, and we'll quote properly after we've looked. If it's a handful of ants on the kitchen counter, a shop bait may well be all you need.
Nearby
We work right across Pretoria East, including neighbouring Garsfontein and Moreleta Park, and from our base we cover the whole of Johannesburg and Gauteng.
Combat Pest Control is owned and run by Jason van Heerden, who has spent 25 years in pest control. We're registered with SAPCA and with the Department of Agriculture, we offer service within 24 hours, and if a treated pest comes back within three months, so do we. Phone 084 200 2700, or WhatsApp us a photo of the bare lawn or the scorpion.
Questions we get asked
What does pest control cost in Faerie Glen?
It depends on the pest and the size of the property. Our price page lists the starting price for each treatment, and you get a firm quote after the inspection.
Are the scorpions in Faerie Glen dangerous?
Some can be. Scorpions with thick tails and small pincers have the stronger sting, so treat any sting with care and see a doctor if a child or elderly person is stung.
Why is my lawn full of bare patches and little holes?
In winter that's almost always harvester termites. They cut grass and carry it underground, and they need a targeted treatment of the active holes.
Can harvester termites get into my house?
No, harvester termites only eat grass. Mud tubes on walls or hollow skirting boards point to subterranean termites, which are a different problem.
Is the perimeter spray safe for my dogs?
Yes, once it has dried. Keep pets inside or away from treated areas until then; the products are odourless and won't stain.
Do you treat whole complexes?
Yes. We can treat common gardens, boundary walls and individual units together, and set up scheduled visits with a service record.
How long does a scorpion treatment last?
A barrier treatment usually keeps working for several months, and general treatments carry a 3-month guarantee. Clearing rock piles near the house helps it last.