Wasp Nest in a Hedge or Bush – What Ramsgate Garden Owners Should Know
When the bush by the doorway holds a nest, every trip in and out of the house becomes a risk, and wasps can end up indoors.
The doorway shrub
Plenty of houses have a shrub or two by the front door: a bay, a camellia, a dense evergreen in a pot or a bed beside the porch. They are pleasant, they frame the entrance and they are rarely touched. A wasp colony sees something else: shelter from rain and wind, warmth from the wall behind, and almost no disturbance.
The trouble with a nest here is how often you walk past it. Every trip to the car, the post, the bins or the school run takes you within a metre or two of the colony. By August it may hold 2,000 to 10,000 wasps or more, and the guards will treat a regular visitor as a threat if the door slams, a bag brushes the leaves or a child runs past.
Households in Ramsgate, on the Kent coast, can have this problem as easily as anyone, simply because the porch is a sheltered spot.
Porches and covered entrances make the situation worse in one way: they hold warmth and still air, so wasps linger there. The recess by a door can feel busy even when the nest itself is a few paces away, because the flying wasps use the shelter as a landing spot. If you see more wasps in the porch than in the open garden, the nest is probably close to the doorway.
Noticing it
The signs are close to hand, which makes them easier to spot than in a back garden.
- Wasps flying around the door frame or the light fitting, more than elsewhere.
- Wasps found indoors by the front door, on the window sill or in the hall.
- A steady stream going into the same part of the shrub, a hand-width or two above the soil or deeper in the foliage.
- A hum as you reach for the key.
- Wasps landing on the post or the doormat.
Any of these is a reason to use another door, if you have one, and to walk away from the shrub on future trips.
Doorstep deliveries are another worry. Couriers, the postie and anyone collecting a parcel will stand right beside the shrub, and some will lean on the wall or step back into the foliage while they wait for an answer. Put a note on the door, ask for items to be left in the porch or with a neighbour, and avoid leaving boxes beside the plant.
Getting in and out safely
If the front door is the only way in, you will need a plan.
- Use the back door or a side gate for a few days if possible.
- If you must use the front door, go calmly and without a bag swinging against the shrub.
- Close the door softly behind you and do not leave it open.
- Do not carry sweet food or drinks through the entrance.
- Check your clothes and hair for wasps before going inside.
- Ask visitors to ring or phone rather than wait by the shrub.
A note on the door, such as "wasps in the plant, please wait at the gate", is a kindness to callers.
Hanging baskets, wreaths and door furniture near the shrub deserve a thought as well. Do not take them down or straighten them while the wasps are active, because even a light knock can transmit through the wall or the foliage. They can wait a day or two.
Think about prams, bikes and mobility aids that live in the porch. Move them out of the shrub's reach if you can do it quickly and calmly, or leave them in place and avoid them. Do not drag anything past the plant while the wasps are flying.
When wasps get indoors
A nest by the door often results in wasps in the house. If you find one in a room, open a window and let it leave, rather than swatting it. Check the hall, the windowsills and the curtains. Keep the front door shut as much as you can.
Do not try to block the gap round the door with towels or tape while the nest is active. It makes no difference to the colony and brings you close to the shrub. If wasps are coming in through a gap in the frame itself, say so when you book.
If the shrub is in a pot, you might be tempted to carry it away. Please do not. Moving it will disturb the nest, and the pot is exactly where the colony lives. Wait for the technician, who will tell you what to do with the pot afterwards.
Treatment
A qualified, fully insured technician will visit and treat the nest, with one visit guaranteed as the price graphic says. The cost is a fixed £120 per nest, with £60 for any further nest on the same property, and no call-out charge. We work seven days a week, with same-day service and evening and weekend slots, for domestic and commercial customers.
Ring 01622 410 019 or use the online booking form on the contact page. Tell us the shrub is by the door, and say if anyone in the household has an allergy, so the booking can be prioritised.
Commercial entrances count too. A shop, surgery or office with a planter by the door faces the same risk, and customers will walk past the nest all day. We work with commercial customers, and an evening or weekend visit can be arranged outside opening hours.
If you are unsure whether the wasps in the porch come from the shrub or from elsewhere, say so when you ring. A description of where the wasps appear, at what time, and how many, is all the technician needs to decide where to look.
Afterwards
Stay out of the doorway area until the technician tells you it is fine. Ask whether the empty nest can be taken down, and whether to leave the shrub in place. In future, give the shrub a quick look from the path each week from late April.
Wasps on your property in Ramsgate?
Fixed price £120 per nest, no call-out charge, same-day service available.