Reducing the fly population in community gardens

Sorry, posted this incorrectly 1st time on wrong forum board!!

Try again........

Every summer we get complaints from residents and guests using our community gardens and pool that there are to many flys about and it makes sunbathing a pain when all you do all day is waft the flys away.

We control the watering carefully, we fertilize grass and flowerbeds over the winter with chemicals not manure...we have animals under control in the gardens except for a few strays.....but there are still hundreds about!!!!

Everyone must suffer with the same issues, so how do you try and control the fly population in your gardens?

We have used the red-top fly catchers in the past and that worked to some degree, but never solved the problem?

look forward to hearing your tips so that we can pass them on to our gardener and presidente

What type of flies are they? Knowing the type might help you track down what it is that attarcts them.

Have you got a septic tank or are you attached to a sewer? Maybe you need to take a look at that. A properly functioning sewer shouldn't attract flies but if stuff doesn't flow away properly it might.

Is food or rubbish being left unattended? What about the vegetation? You may find some types of plant repel flies.

Many areas in Alicante, Murcia and Almeria suffer massive fly problems in the summer due to the huge increase in Pig farms and a recent explosion of expansion due to EU cash incentives. Many pig farmers just excavate a huge hole and channel the waste into them. I have seen huge “ponds” of slurry open and caked with flies, yet a few km down the road there are very few files. Not only is this practice illegal and extremely dangerous, it prevents most outdoor activity.

I will probably be pilloried for this – but before you buy a home take a tour of the area and look for pig farms. You can’t miss them, long sheds with shiny feed silos at the end, and if you see them within 5 or 6 km of your intended buy, go back in the summer and see if you will be affected. Many have bought in the winter had by the end of summer, wish they hadn’t.

Woodbug: I will probably be pilloried for this – but before you buy a home take a tour of the area and look for pig farms. You can’t miss them, long sheds with shiny feed silos at the end, and if you see them within 5 or 6 km of your intended buy, go back in the summer and see if you will be affected. Many have bought in the winter had by the end of summer, wish they hadn’t.

You can check for what there is but you can't do very much to prevent new farms / installations being built. Especially if you're living in a predominnatly agricultural area.