All Seasons Premier

Mosquito Prevention Tips

Multiple preventive techniques can be employed to keep mosquitoes at bay.

• Keep standing water to a minimum. Stagnant pools of water, even in small amounts, offer excellent breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Bird baths, toys, gutters, non-chlorinated pools, plant containers, and poorly-drained lawns are all potential havens for mosquitoes.
• Repair torn screens and close gaps where mosquitoes can enter your home.
• Add mosquito-repelling plants like citronella or the lemon-scented geranium to your landscape.
• Use fans to break down carbon dioxide and blow mosquitoes away.
• Add gambusia fish (also called mosquitofish) to ponds. They feed on mosquito larva.
• Wear clothing and shoes to cover exposed skin.
• Burn pinion wood in your outdoor fire pit. Mosquitoes do not like its smell.
• Sprinkle used coffee grounds in standing water. They force mosquito eggs to the surface, depriving them of necessary oxygen.
• Use red cedar mulch or chips in your yard.
• Apply an insect-repelling spray or lotion that contains DEET, lemon-eucalyptus oil, or picaridin.
• Hang a bat house to attract bats to your yard for natural mosquito control, as a single brown bat can eat up to 1,000 mosquitoes in one hour.