Beginner Gardening: Flies are running me out of my yard. Help!, 1 by GinnyLu22

GinnyLu22 wrote:
I have a big house fly problem in my backyard. And they fly in the door every chance they get! But this is just a part of my challenge of landscaping the doggie area of my back yard.

I'm seeing the flies are drawn to uneaten dogfood in bowls on the deck, so I've started removing uneaten food from the area. I even keep my dogs' waste picked up, to deter flies. I also store my household trash bin out off the deck, at the back corner of the house. This, too, probably draws the flies. I have nowhere else to store this large bin. It must be out of view from the street in front of our house.

The flies like to congregate on said dirt out in the sunshine. Maybe some society garlic would ward them off? Would planting mint keep them away? I've tried using those hanging fly traps with the awful smelling liquid inside. Quite yucky for human noses to deal with when out on the deck or in the yard.

This is my horrible "Before" picture. I promise to post an "After" picture of this eyesore soon! The ground is currently just plain dirt, new plantings are on the sketch pad. In this dog area, I'm getting ready to put in an evergreen groundcover and mulch and some blueberry bushes and dwarf peach trees in tall, large containers, to make the plants more dog-proof. Reason: My male dog's leg-hiking and hole-digging has killed off my first attempts at growing shrubs and flowers along the retaining wall base!!
DG'ers: What else can I do about the flies? I am open for suggestions of what you have done that works, but will not harm beneficial insects, small critters, birds, or my dogs. I want to reclaim my back yard to enjoy!! Thanks for any suggestions you offer.

This message was edited May 23, 2008 11:17 PM