Mosquito Control: Take Back Your Yard

Mosquitoes are both problematic and potentially harmful. They have the ability to spread dangerous diseases with the most common being West Nile virus. Mosquitoes feed on blood by piercing the skin of humans and mammals with their sharp, need-like mouthpart and sucking the blood out. Their bite is often painful and leaves behind an itchy bite that can irritate your skin for days after their attack. Until you implement a mosquito repellant system, consider the following tips to quickly reduce the number of these flying insects in your yard.

3-Ingredient Mosquito Spray

According to WECT6 News Wilmington North Carolina, you can control and repel mosquitoes in you yard using three simple ingredients: beer, Epsom salts and Listerine mouthwash. Simply combine 1/3 each of the three ingredients and transfer to a clean garden sprayer. Spray the liquid across your grass you keep the mosquitoes out of your yard for the entire season.

Essential Oils

You can utilize several different essential oils to create a homemade spray that will safely repel mosquitoes without harming grass. Catnip, for example, is 10 times more effective than DEET at repelling mosquitoes (Ref 5). To create essential oil from catnip, finely chop enough leaves and stems of fresh catnip to cover the bottom of a casserole dish, and pour olive oil over the green. Place the dish inside a preheated oven set at 200 degrees and bake for 2 to 3 hours. Once it is cooled, strain the solids out, pour the catnip oil into a garden sprayer and add an equal amount of water before spraying the grass with the solution.

Other Management Options

Many home remedies have no scientific data to back up the claims, and their effectiveness may vary from one situation to the next. And while commercial mosquito repellents can keep these bloodsuckers at bay, you should consider creating an outdoor environment hostile to mosquitoes and their larvae. This includes pouring out any stagnant water you find around your property. Items including flower pots, wading pools, clogged gutters and containers are perfect receptacles for stagnant water. When mosquitoes find this water, they will lay their eggs on the water surface. In a little over a week, adult mosquitoes will emerge to breed, feed and continue the cycle. By simply emptying these receptacles regularly, you will reduce the mosquito population in your yard.

When used in conjunction with proper environmental management, home remedies and commercial mosquito repellents can help provide complete protection against these pests.