I love frogs and the nice bugs which help my lawn and garden grow. I sprayed around the base of the house to keep bugs out, but I do not want to kill the ecosystem or drive the birds and frogs and other nice creatures from my property. But then again, I hate mosquitos (in Houston) and I hate spiders. Ants are easy to see and kill (with their mounds), so I don't find them annoying. I have no pest problems except mosquitos (which I am killing with an octenol-based bug zapper). What should I do?
2007-07-12 05:00:01 · 3 answers · asked by Andy 4 in Home & Garden ➔ Garden & Landscape
oh yeah, I really want to create my own personal dragonfly population in my yard to control the mosquito problem. Is there an economic way to do that?
2007-07-12 06:34:05 · update #1
Spiders eat other bugs, so you should not kill them. Frogs and birds eat mosquitos, so killing mosquitos will reduce their population. Deet works well to repel mosquitos.
Consumer Reports tested bug zappers a few years ago. Virtually all the bugs killed were moths, not mosquitos. A TV consumer show tested mosquito lures baited zappers vs no zapper. They found the lure did attract mosquitos to the zapper, but also to the yard. Net effect: that the total yard population of mosquitos was higher with the zapper than without.
Attract dragonflys with water. A small pond will bring them in. I have a two foot by 18 inch by 18 inch rubber pond with goldfish in it to eat mosquito larvae and a few plants around it. Dragonflies showed up as soon as I put it in.
2007-07-12 16:59:07 · answer #1 · answered by Judy B 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, don't use any insecticide on your lawn. If you do, you will damage the ecosystem, as you say, and also, you would have to repeat the process seasonally living in HHH (hot, humid, Houston). Everyone has mosquito problems in the summer unless you live at the North Pole. What will you do about the frogs and nice bugs, they aren't going to be happy with insecticide on your lawn. I am sure there is a more natural way of handling bugs, but you know what, Houston is buggy anyway, no pun intended, but it is with all the swamps and bayou's there.
2007-07-12 05:14:22 · answer #2 · answered by Nancy S 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
This site has an interesting article on spiders and how to redorect them and eliminate them.
http://www.bugspray.com/articles98/spiders.html
2007-07-12 05:09:27 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋