So you'd like to get out and enjoy the yard without being eaten alive by pesky mosquitoes? How about a barbecue where you aren't the main course? Are your kids complaining about itchy mosquito bites? Are you worried about spraying a chemical to control these bothersome bugs? The good news is that there are some safe, and organic ways to reduce the number of mosquitoes in your landscape and give your kids every reason to keep playing outside.
There are a variety of strategies for controlling mosquitoes. The first involves preventing them from ever becoming adults. You can do this by minimizing standing water on your property, including birdbaths. Also, if you have areas of your lawn or yard that tend to hold water, you might consider adding drainage and/or improving the soil with something like our Liquid Aerator, which will open up the soil and allow water to drain through it better. Over time, with repeated use, you might find that your soil holds less water that way.
There are products made from Bacillus Thuringiensis (a natural material that is considered much safer than chemical larvacides). If you google "BT Mosquito Dunk" you should find plenty of results. These are effective in areas that have standing water and are most appropriate for use in drain crocks that hold water at all times.
No matter how careful you are about reducing the amount of places mosquitoes have to breed, you will still have mosquitoes. So, the next step in an effective all-natural mosquito repellent program is to use a product to kill mosquitoes or keep them out of your yard.
READ THIS ARTICLE by FOX 8 in Cleveland, Ohio discussing mosquitoes and options for controlling them.
Many people will use a pyrethrin to kill mosquitoes. I've seen systems that squirt out a dose of pyrethrin twice in the morning and twice in the evening every day to kill any mosquitoes that might be lurking. This is a good concept, but pyrethrins are notably toxic, especially when used frequently around the yard. While they are a natural product derived from chrysanthemum flowers, that doesn't mean there aren't potential health issues associated with them. Plus, pyrethrins only kill mosquitoes that they happen to touch at the moment you spray, they don't do anything to repel future mosquitoes from coming into your yard. For this reason, we don't recommend pyrethrin products for mosquito control. Even worse than pyrethrins though are the synthetic pyrethrum products.
You've heard about garlic repelling blood-sucking vampires right? Well, what is a mosquito if not a miniature blood-sucking vampire? It seems natural that garlic would be a perfect product to repel mosquitoes, naturally. In our service business, we've used a product called Mosquito Barrier for years with great success to repel mosquitoes without any chemicals. Mosquito Barrier is made from all-natural garlic juice. We mix the Mosquito Barrier concentrate in our sprayer with water and proceed to coat every surface of the landscape. We spray all plant material, mulch, wood decking, trees, leaves, grass, rocks, fences, you name it. Anything that can absorb water gets sprayed with our garlic mosquito repelling mix. We've found that spraying the Mosquito Barrier Garlic Juice will repel mosquitoes for about three weeks. Note: If you have a beautiful fence or something you'd be concerned about discoloring, you might want to test the garlic spray in a small inconspicuous area before coating the whole surface. There is a possibility that it could stain slightly.
The short answer is yes, for a short time. We've heard it described as smelling like a pizzeria for the first couple of hours after our spray is applied. Generally speaking, the smell dissipates quickly and after 24 hours it is barely noticeable. After 48 hours you definitely can't smell it. The good news is that mosquitoes have much more sensitive sniffers than we do and they smell it for the next 3–4 weeks. So, with one spray, you'll keep mosquitoes out of your property for 3–4 weeks, as long as there isn't too much rain. If there is a lot of rain, you might need to reapply.
We combine our garlic sprays with a sticky material (NuFilm P) that helps the formula stick to the leaf surfaces and prevents wash-off. If you're applying the spray yourself, we recommend a backpack sprayer or hand pump sprayer for the best results. It's easy for us to spray everything in your yard with our large sprayers, but it is possible for you to get great results doing it yourself with a standard backpack sprayer as well. If you're not interested in a backpack, you can also try this nifty All-Natural Hose End Ready To Spray Mosquito Beater Repellent, also made with garlic and other natural ingredients.
We would be happy to quote you on an All-Natural Mosquito Repellant Program. Typically we come four times over the Summer to minimize your mosquito issues all season long (before Memorial Day, before 4th of July, end of August, and before Labor Day). With this schedule, we treat your yard just before each of our major outdoor holidays and give you pretty good mosquito suppression for the entire Summer. If you're interested in having us treat your yard for mosquitoes, just contact us to get started. Thanks for your interest in enjoying the great outdoors and eliminating mosquitoes without chemicals. We hope this information was helpful to you.