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Mosquito Control Tips for Spring

Like other animals, mosquitoes hibernate in the winter when the weather becomes a little too cold for their liking. Now that it is spring, these seasonal pests are waking up hungry and ready to attack. If you’ve started to notice mosquitoes around your yard, know that the worst is yet to come! However, there are several things you can do to get rid of mosquitoes and reclaim your yard. Here are our top 5 mosquito control tips for spring.

1. Get Rid of Standing Water

Mosquitoes breed in standing water, so any standing water you have in your yard is making your mosquito problem exponentially worse. The first mosquito control step any household should follow is to get rid of any unnecessary standing water in your yard.

1. Pick up and put away anything that can gather water and doesn’t need to be outside – tires, cans, etc.

2. When not in use, tip your garbage and recycling containers upside down so they cannot collect water. You can also drill holes in the bottom so when they are right side up, the water can drain out.

3. Look for areas in your yard that pool after a long rain. This suggests that you have a slope problem and may need to have the land regraded.

4. Clean out your gutters of debris so the water flows properly and does not pool.

Eliminating all unnecessary pooling water is a top way to get rid of mosquitoes because they’ll have to look for other places to breed.

2. Treat Pools and Ponds

Perhaps you do have standing water in your yard in the way of pools and ponds. You can still enjoy these water features and limit your mosquito population if you follow some quick tips. For pools, you’ll want to make sure your pool is well-chlorinated, which will discourage mosquitoes from landing. Follow good swimming pool maintenance with cleaning and chlorination and you should be okay.

For ponds, any small ornamental pond should be aerated. This keeps the water moving which will, therefore, keep the mosquitoes away. For larger ponds, you can invest in some fish that kill mosquitoes. Goldfish, guppies, and koi are three varieties of fish that are known to kill mosquitoes and their larvae so they are a natural form of mosquito control.

3. Gardening to Repel Mosquitoes

In nature, there are a number of natural oils that will get rid of mosquitoes. You can use these natural repellents in your garden to keep the mosquito count down. Three options are rose-scented geraniums (which have citronellal and geraniol), lemon balm (which has citronellal, geraniol and geranial), and catnip (which has an essential oil called nepetalactone). These ingredients are all natural mosquito repellents that will keep the mosquitoes away.

4. Landscaping

Another gardening mosquito control tip is to simply keep up with your landscaping. The problem is that mosquitoes will seek out shade during the day so they can cool down and get out of the sun. The more shady spaces you have, the more hiding places you have for adult mosquitoes – who can hide but then come out for a meal when you’re in the yard.

With landscaping, you’ll want to make sure you trim all of your hedges and bushes. When these plants become overgrown they offer a perfect hiding place for mosquitoes, so keeping everything trimmed will help.

You’ll also want to make sure to mow the lawn at least once per week. Long grass is a perfect hiding spot for mosquitoes because it is shady, cool, and close to your feet where they can bite without being detected. Prevent this with regular mowing.

5. Backyard Mosquito Control Systems

The tips above will help you get rid of mosquitoes, but they won’t kill mosquitoes or eliminate them completely. If you’ve followed all those steps and are still experiencing a mosquito problem, you definitely need a professional backyard mosquito control system.

There are a lot of companies offering mosquito control systems but there are several weaknesses. For one, many use pesticides that are harmful to your family and pets. What’s the sense in having a mosquito-free yard that is not safe for you to use? For another, these mosquito control systems can be expensive because they require you to pay for equipment and sign annual contracts.

There are, however, some good alternative backyard mosquito control systems available. For example, Barefoot Mosquito’s system is organic and all natural, using 99.5 percent all-natural ingredients that are safe for your loved ones and animals. With no equipment to buy or contracts to sign, you can enjoy affordable mosquito control that rids your yard of 90 percent or more of mosquitoes.

Spring is the time when mosquitoes wake up from their winter hibernation hungry and ready to feed. Following these mosquito control tips will help you get rid of mosquitoes this spring and reclaim your backyard for outdoor fun.