Whether you live in the city or the country, in a hot or mild climate, mosquitoes will likely find their home somewhere near where you live.
With the help of climate change, mosquito-borne illnesses are on the rise. In some ways, home mosquito control has never been more important.
If you have space and like to host outdoor parties in nice weather, you know what a damper on a good time a mosquito infestation is. It can keep your family from getting outside and playing.
And if they get into your house, that can be a nightmare.
If you’re looking for ways to manage home mosquito control, here are 7 ways you can make mosquitos feel unwelcome near your home.
1. Trim Your Hedges and Yard
Mosquitoes don’t like direct sunlight and direct heat, so they’ll often be found hiding in shady areas during the day. Take away their resting space, and it’ll be harder for them to populate the areas around your house.
Trim any hedges, tall grass, or bushes that line your home regularly. Eliminating the shadier spaces in your yard is a home mosquito control tactic to keep them from congregating in your yard.
Mowing your lawn once a week will minimize their ability to find protection around your home. Ask your neighbors to do the same if mosquitoes become a major problem near you.
Even offer to hit their lawn while you’re out mowing. You’ll solve a big problem and make new friends.
2. Get Rid Of Standing Water
It doesn’t take a big pond or a swimming pool to provide a home for mosquitoes to lay their eggs. Just a thimbleful of water is enough for mosquitos to multiply.
Cups from a party last weekend, kids’ toys that can collect water, or even lawn furniture could be contributing to your home’s mosquito problems.
Make sure you’re regularly cleaning out your gutters. If leaves get clogged up in your gutter, it can create pools of water that will create mosquito nests all around the perimeter of your house.
If you keep flowerpots near your house, be sure they’re not overwatered, with pools of water on the top. Tree stumps should be filled with mortar to keep mosquitoes from moving in.
3. Chemically Treat Ponds
Just because you and your family live near a pond doesn’t mean that you have to leave yourself open to a mosquito infestation.
Larvicides can be added to pools or ponds near your home. It creates a layer that suffocates larvae and eggs while not doing any damage to fish.
Mosquito dunks, donut-shaped bricks create a bacterial spore that attacks mosquito larvae without harming people or pets. Follow directions, so you add an adequate amount of donuts to match the volume of water you’re dealing with.
While you may still see mosquitoes after applying these treatments, they won’t be able to breed. Over time you should see the mosquito population dwindle.
This way, you can keep ponds and fountains without leaving yourself open to pests.
4. Add Fish To Ponds and Water Gardens
You can use natural solutions for home mosquito control that bring unexpected life to your property.
Adding goldfish or minnows to your ponds and water gardens will eliminate mosquito problems as they are a source of food for the fish.
Rather than drain your water sources and give into the mosquitos, you can add some of their natural enemies. These mosquito-eating fish can be found in pet shops or bait stores.
Be aware that they may not live beyond a single year or season. You might find fish shopping to be a new addition to your annual landscaping affairs.
5. Contact Municipal Pest Control
Once you’ve treated all of the nearby water for mosquitoes, you might still find that there’s a severe persistence. This could be especially true for those living near wooded areas.
While you can’t be expected to handle and may find it illegal to deal with nearby woods, your local officials should be able to deal with your problems.
Many rural areas have a local mosquito control officer in their districts. They measure the number of mosquitoes in an area during a given season. If that number exceeds a certain limit, they step in with all sorts of tools and pest control solutions.
If you’re about to have an event outside of your home, call them a couple of weeks in advance so that they have time to run their assessments and respond adequately.
6. Professional Spraying
Exterminators of all stripes are equipped with the tools for dealing with mosquitoes. If mosquito control stops at your property line, you might have to hire professionals to keep the pests from moving from the woods to your home.
This is one of the most severe home mosquito control solutions, but it’s sure to work quite well. It’s certainly much easier than trying to find a place to live where you’ll never see a mosquito again.
Talk with your exterminator in advance so that they can offer any advice as far as preparing pets and kids. You want your entire family to be safe, even as they’re protected from pests.
You can have your lawn sprayed or just have trees and shrubbery treated.
If having someone spraying your property is too expensive for you, you could buy a mosquito fogger and do it yourself.
7. Zappers
Several manufacturers now make bug zappers for both indoor and outdoor usage. These are some of the cleanest solutions for home mosquito control.
If you have persistent issues with insects, there is a zapper for every need. Some swatters zap mosquitoes on contact, and there are standalone zappers that attract and collect mosquitoes.
The benefit of zappers is that they’ll catch any bug that flies your way.
Get a couple early in the season and see where they’re most effective. This way, you’ll be able to place them in problem areas, away from friends and family. They won’t even know you had an insect problem.
Use Common Sense Home Mosquito Control
Using the ideas that are laid out above, you’re sure to find a solution that suits the needs of your family and your home.
If you’re still trying to figure out which solution works for you, check out our advice guide for purchasing home mosquito control.
