How do you rid the mosquitoes in your backyard?

Question

I realize that the mosquitoes are plentiful during the spring and summer months in Minnesota (the state bird ya know LOL), but is there any type of shrub or plant that can help with them being so aggresive during a barbeque? PLEASE HELP!!

Answer 1

Garlic is the main component in many herbal remedies. Mosquitoes hate it. Gardeners who eat lots of garlic may find that they scratch those mosquito bites far less. Of course, you would have to eat a lot of garlic and you may find that you repel more than just mosquitoes. Nevertheless, organic gardeners use garlic sprays, powders and plantings to help deter the creatures. It may not reduce their numbers dramatically, but when coupled with other natural combatants, you may see a reliable reduction.

Researchers have found that catnip will repel all varieties of mosquitoes. They believe an essential oil found in catnip, the one that gives it its characteristic odor, is actually more effective at repelling these pests that Deet, the chemical used in most commercial insect repellants. Scientists aren't yet certain if it's simply the smell mosquitoes don't like or if the odor is actually an irritant for them, but either way, it is a terrific natural mosquito repellant.

Rosemary is prized in herbal gardens for its obvious kitchen uses. Chicken and lamb owe many a savory moment to rosemary rubs. This wonderful and rather lovely herb is also adroit at sending mosquitoes off in a hurry. If you are working in your garden, simply break off a branch and rub it over the exposed areas of your skin.

Citronella oil is a safe and effective way to keep mosquitoes away during your garden parties and backyard entertainments. Your online garden store or local garden center will have everything from citronella table candles to shoulder-high citronella torches you can mount around the pool. For personal use, try mixing a few drops of citronella oil with a few drops of olive oil and apply at your pulse points like perfume.

Vanilla mixed with some olive oil and applied to the skin also seems to drive mosquitoes away. Vanilla is such a pleasant scent that gardeners may attract their own species to the garden.


Gardeners may also want to plant marigolds in their flowerbeds. Not only are their bright orange and yellow blooms cheery, but they produce a pungent odor that is unattractive for mosquitoes.

Gardeners and landscapers who have water elements in their yards should be especially mindful of mosquito control. You may need more than plants to get rid of mosquitoes and their larvae. Luckily, there are a number of animals that like nothing better than a mosquito for supper. Many beneficial animals can greatly help reduce mosquito populations who use water sources to breed. Toads can eat between fifty and one hundred mosquitoes and slugs per night, so having them in your yard near your garden pond is a wonderfully natural way to get rid of mosquitoes.

Stocking your garden pond with guppies or goldfish is also a natural way to get rid of mosquitoes and their larvae. Bats also like to munch mosquitoes, but you probably don’t want them hanging around your garden parties.

Gardeners may also want to take some personal precautions when working into the evening when mosquitoes are particularly ravenous. During mosquito season, lay off banana consumption; mosquitoes are thought to love how bananas react with the body's chemistry.

Remember, eliminating stagnant water from your yard will also help reduce mosquito numbers. Even removing piles of moisture-retaining leaves will help in the cause. While none of these safe organic methods may conquer the troublesome insect alone, taken together, may prove the dramatic means necessary to protect yourself and your company against one of nature's most deadly beasts

Answer 2

First off get rid of anything in your yard that might hold standing stagnant water such as old tires, etc. These are breeding ground for mosquitos. Replace bird bath water regularly. You try planting some "Mosquito Plants around your yard as well.


Mosquito Plant

The Mosquito Plant is a genetically engineered geranium hybrid with a unique characteristic: it repels mosquitoes! It is easily grown as a potted patio plant, and easily enjoyed for its attractive foliage and sweet lemony scent, as well as for its mosquito repelling powers. It produces a leafy, attractive, foot-tall plant during its first season.

The Mosquito Plant was created by a Dutch botanist, who genetically incorporated traits of the Chinese citronella grass into a scented African geranium. The resulting cultivar still had the growth and habit of the geranium, and its sweet lemony citronella scent. Citronella is the substance in citronella candles, which have long been used to deter mosquitoes. It doesn't harm them, but they don't like citronella and avoid it. It is most effective as a repellent if you crush a few leaves and rub them on your skin. This releases the citronella and a sweet perfume.

Like most geraniums, the Mosquito Plant is normally potted and grown outdoors during the warm season (after last and before first frosts). During the colder seasons the plants can be wintered-over indoors. In the warmer southern zones Mosquito Plants can be grown outdoors year-round where the plants can reach a mature size of 3 to 4 feet high and wide.

Planting and Care:

New plants can be potted in a 4-inch or larger pot. Or they can be grouped in a patio planter spaced a foot apart. Use any potting soil recommended for geraniums. Keep watered and occasionally feed with a soluble plant food, as you would any potted plant. Mosquito Plants like full sun, but do well in partial shade. In the fall, you can move the plants indoors to enjoy as houseplants, or winter them over with your other geraniums in a heated garage, near a window or under grow lights.

During the summer, put potted plants on patio tables and near lounges to keep mosquitoes at bay. For even more protection, crush and rub the leaves on your skin for a sweet, natural perfume that bugs mosquitoes.

Answer 3

you can buy a fogging spray and spray the area outside the bbq area about 30- 40 feet. if you have shrubs or a wooded area on the outskirts of your yard, spray them too. it will do for the evening. it helps to spray the area where you are walking during the party about 1 hour before guests come. also cut the grass in the morning on the area and let it dry well..
I live in Canada, so I am acquainted with the little critters...and their cousins the ravenous black flies..

Answer 4

If you have any standing water around your home try to get rid of it Mosquitoes use the standing water as a nest and little mosquitoes get born there. I agree with using citronella for your pest problem.

Answer 5

It takes time...but in future try to implant a lot of basil in backyard...I've learned that from my grand grandma ;) AND IT WORKS. I have them in a great pots on my window. People like that smell but Mosquitos don't... :) GOOD LUCK!

Answer 6

I dont think certain plants make them go away but if u are barbequing the smoke should help.. try tiki torches with a skeeter repelant like citranella and also citra nella candles. you can also use a skin repelant with out deet like avons skin so soft. Good luck, alaska has them bad so i know what its like!

Answer 7

I provide lots of nesting space and peace for my flock of Barn Swallows...They eat the mosquitoes on the fly.

Answer 8

Just heat out to you local hardware store, You can treat your lawn with a spray and get rid of your problem. It is also quite affordable. Worked wonders for me.

Answer 9

I wrote a blog post about how to make your own Permethrin based mosquito spray. Here in Illinois I get about 4-6 weeks of a mostly mosquito free backyard. We're in a heavily wooded area across from a wetlands.

http://blog.trebacz.com/2011/07/diy-make-your-own-permetherin-mosquito.html

I buy the 10% concentrate and then apply it to the yard with a sprayer. Been doing it for a few years when I couldn't get the product premixed anymore. Still need to use bug spray once in awhile, but it really knocks down the population for several weeks in our yard.