Keeping Mosquitoes Out of Your Summer Garden

February 26th, 2008

Our summer gardens are filled with all kinds of pests at one time or another. One pest that has potentially nasty health consequences to many species that may be welcome additions to your summer garden habitat is the very unwelcome mosquito. Keep reading to discover steps you can take to keep mosquitoes from invading your personal space and keep friends, families, and animals safe and protected in your summer garden.

One way to minimize your exposure to mosquitoes is by minimizing their ability to procreate. They must lay eggs in still water in order to breed and you can remove as many sources of potential breeding ground as possible by keeping your lawn and summer garden area free of any debris that will allow even a minimal amount of standing water to collect after a rainfall. This means you must keep your gutters clean and free of debris, make sure all cans and bottles are picked up and placed inside a garbage can that is lidded. Keep lids on garbage cans at all times, and change animal bowls daily.

Burn citronella oil. This is highly effective at dusk when the mosquitoes seem to be at their worst as it not only provides a natural repellant for mosquitoes so that you can enjoy your summer garden a little better but also because it provides its own mood setting light that is well suited for enjoying in a summer garden environment. In addition to the oil you can also choose to burn citronella candles and use repellants that are created to spray or rub onto the skin using natural ingredients for added protection for you and your children from these dangerous pests.

It is also possible to find garlic based mosquito repellants that are highly effective at making your garden inhospitable to mosquitoes, fleas, and ticks. This is a little different than citronella as it is applied to your lawn and garden area rather than burned or applied to the skin.

Another thing you can do to make your garden inhospitable to mosquitoes is to fill it with creatures that prey on mosquitoes. There is nothing like a bigger fish in the sea to run the smaller fish to different hunting grounds. Plant trees, shrubs, and bushes that attract the birds that eat mosquitoes. This will provide plenty of nutrition for these birds while diminishing the mosquito population one snack at a time. Purple Martins are well known for eating mosquitoes and a great addition to any summer garden (though not for this reason alone).

Plant lemon thyme in your summer garden. If you crush the leaves it is believed to be an effective repellent for mosquitoes. Choosing this plant for your garden can help you naturally repel mosquitoes without smelling bad in the process, which is something that must rubs, sprays, and oils cannot always claim.

Mosquitoes are a huge problem in summer garden largely due to increased fears of West Nile Virus and other diseases they may carry from one person to the next. For this reason it is now more important than ever to control the population and limit our exposure to these harmful animals. Most of us wish to do this without adding new risks due to chemical exposure. Hopefully this article has given you plenty of natural alternative to consider when it comes to controlling the mosquito population in your summer garden.

Posted by Adam |

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38 Comments »

Odzyskiwanie Danych says
I live in a very “moist” region by a river, we have a meadow next to our house and the amount of mosquitoes we sometimes get is just staggering. Thanks for the tips, hopefully you will make our garden livable in the summer

February 28th, 2008 | #
Rebel8 says
Thanks for the advice. I always wondered how I could keep those pests out!

February 28th, 2008 | #
David says
I am a gutter contractor and most people never clean out their gutters! When they don’t it’s true water can pool inside the gutter and attract mosquitoes and other unwanted pests.

March 4th, 2008 | #
Gutters says
forgot to add, be careful getting up on a ladder! they reported some 200k injuries from people falling from ladders last yr. make sure yo call a professional!

March 4th, 2008 | #
Ernesto says
Mosquitos are such a menace to everyone. Bites irritatingly and what I hate really is the itchiness of the bite, I would have to go and scratch it to relieve myself.

March 19th, 2008 | #
Lisa says
I do what I can to keep mosquitoes from breeding in my own yard. But what can you do about those who live close by. One local school has a huge drainage pond breeding mosquitoes by the millions, I’m sure.

March 19th, 2008 | #
Prosperity Writer says
not to mention the malaria or dengue fever they carry. malaria has killed more humans than any other disease since the stone age.

March 23rd, 2008 | #
Bird Watcher says
If you don’t mind bats, bat houses tend to keep mosquitoes at bay.

March 24th, 2008 | #
Vernal Real Estate says
I would have to agree with the above post, what a pain they can be.

March 24th, 2008 | #
Adam Hyman says
Are mosquitos really that much of a problem for you? where do you live?

March 26th, 2008 | #
Judd says
I hate those things! I’ve never heard about the garlic-based stuff, I’ll have to look into it.

April 10th, 2008 | #
Jenna says
Wonderful tips! Mosquitoes are a huge problem where I live — so any advice to keep them away is greatly appreciated!

April 22nd, 2008 | #
Brenda says
Thanks for a very informative article! This post is filled with lots of great information on how to manage mosquitoes in the garden.

The town where my parents live has a mosquito spraying plan that I would swear just feeds them. They are very vicious! I think finding natural ways are a good way to go and less harmful to the environment and the people who live there.

April 23rd, 2008 | #
zohai says
Hmm.. There seems to be a plant called mosquito plant too that repels mosquito. I’ve tried it but then it doesn’t seem to work that well =/

May 22nd, 2008 | #
golf travel bags says
How much I hope I read this before I got bite few days ago. Thanks for the post. I may probably forgotten to do these few steps and it causes me to be bite.

May 29th, 2008 | #
Mail Bags says
I am one of the weird folks but for some reason, I kind of enjoy getting mosquito bites, just so I can scratch them. On that note, I also like to get sunburns sometimes.

June 5th, 2008 | #
Child Safety Gates says
I really hates mosquitoes and we had always a big problem about breeding in our yard. This tips are really so helpful. Thank you very much for the awesome tips.

June 5th, 2008 | #
zhougongjiemeng says
I hate those things! I’ve never heard about the garlic-based stuff, I’ll have to look into it.

June 7th, 2008 | #
Miranda says
Mosquitoes are really big problem in any places. Thanks for the very helpful tips.

June 13th, 2008 | #
Love Sack says
I hate mosquitoes because it is very dangerous. Thank you for the tips.

June 16th, 2008 | #
Maria @ Frugal Homesteading says
Thanks for the tip about lemon thyme, I couldn’t remmeber which herb it was.

June 18th, 2008 | #
professional movers says
We’ve been using citronella oil for quite some time now and it actually works well. Would also help if you could minimize build up of stagnant water. Great tips and great blog you have! I’ll be back

June 20th, 2008 | #
Mark says
Thank you so much for a nice tips. I really hate mosquitoes and I want to get rid of them.

June 30th, 2008 | #
Stair lift says
Perhaps that is the biggest problem in having a beautiful summer garden. Not only mosquitoes but many other species make it almost impossible for me to manage my garden. All listed techniques and suggestions are very effective but those are not easy to follow. May be I need a gardener on permanent bases to handle it.

July 1st, 2008 | #
Aiden says
Chemical larvicides is a microbial larvicidese which is a chemical solution to the mosquito controlling.

July 7th, 2008 | #
Self Defense, Pepper Spray says
We live between woods, a swampy area and a pod. Needless to say, mosquitoes are a problem

August 8th, 2008 | #
Gradinita says
It is a plant that can kill mosquitos. Onfortunately i don’t know her english name but in romainian is “musetel”, and carry away any mosquitos from your garden.

August 13th, 2008 | #
captivating capiz says
The citronella oil is what I like best here in your tips to drive mosquitoes away. i really like organic ways to do things like using organic fertilizers for my garden here in our tropical climate country.

As an additional, please make sure that your leaves are all free of small amounts of stagnant water in between your plant’s nodes and buds. We all know that some big leaves have the ability to retain water in those areas so you might as well want to consider checking on them too. This is just to be 100% sure that there is nothing of small water residue that those pesky and sometimes dangerous mosquitoes can regroup and repopulate from.

September 11th, 2008 | #
K J says
I live in the UK where we see rain, rain and more rain. I wish we had the weather for mosquitoes… lol. Nice blog, btw.

September 28th, 2008 | #
BHelle says
Oh!Thanks for the tips.I have been so scared of dengue for my lil kid that I opt not to maintain a garden.But now I can relive my garden without the fear of mozquitoes.Thanks again!

September 28th, 2008 | #
Retirement Income says
I hate mosquito’s they are such an annoying part of life However, I also find that the off bug lamp thing works quite well too

October 15th, 2008 | #
Murfreesboro Townhomes says
now the question is, how do i keep them out of my house LOL.

October 18th, 2008 | #
Start Wall says
eliminating standing water will help the most

October 25th, 2008 | #
bluehost says
I hate Mosquitoes.I will poison them to buy medicine.

October 25th, 2008 | #
Internet Marketing Services says
Ohh bug of all kinda are annoying but mosquito’s are the worst. I have to agree with the above poster the OFF lamps works really well.

October 30th, 2008 | #
Prue says
Thank you so much for the useful tips. It’s a great method to keep the mosquitoes out of my garden…

November 4th, 2008 | #
Dave Dugdale says
Thanks for your advice. We had a lot of them this year and finally with the weather getting cold they are going away.

I will watch out for the standing water next year.

November 4th, 2008 | #
Freewareking says
Good thing you mentioned the steps in preventing mosquitos in a garden,This is very useful especially here in Phil where a lot dies because of dengue.

November 9th, 2008 | #