Year-Round Prevention For Mosquitoes

Are you seeing a lot of mosquitoes on your property? Are you wondering why? Well, mosquitoes aren't as mysterious as you might think. If you're seeing clouds of mosquitoes on your property there is a simple reason. Understanding what this reason is can actually help you significantly reduce them.

Moisture

The secret to controlling mosquitoes year-round is understanding that they are moisture pests and that this need for moisture affects mosquitoes in many ways. Let's take a look at these one at a time and connect them to how you can control mosquitoes on your property.

Shade

If mosquitoes dry out, they die. So, in the middle of the day, you're going to find these insects hiding in shaded locations. Resting spots for mosquitoes may be tree canopies, bushes, shrubs, ornamentals, flowers, and underneath man-made structures. They will take advantage of any shaded location but are particularly drawn to areas that are moist. Therefore, the plants in your landscaping are likely to get targeted first if you water them regularly.

How does this knowledge help us control mosquitoes? As a homeowner, you can reduce mosquitoes in your yard by reducing hiding spots. Trim tree branches to let sunlight into shaded locations. Space ornamental plants to help them dry quickly. Remove items that create shaded locations for mosquitoes to hide (for example, stowing the riding lawnmower away when you're not using it.)

For the best protection, partner with a pest management professional to have mosquito resting places treated with an insecticide that is just powerful enough to eliminate simple organisms like mosquitoes. This turns your landscaping into mosquito traps.

Humidity

When shade is mixed with rainwater, sprinkler water, hose water, or any other kind of water that can dampen the ground in your yard, mosquitoes will be attracted to your property because it will be more humid. If you have lots of trees, large populations of mosquitoes are likely. Mosquitoes thrive in locations where humidity is high.

How does this knowledge help us control mosquitoes? This one is linked to the reduction of shade, but we are going to focus on the second part of the equation: water. If you use a sprinkler to water your yard, make sure you only give your lawn what it needs, and position the sprinklers so they don't dampen the ground in wooded areas. Check your exterior spigots and hoses to make sure there are no leaks. And address anything in your yard that is allowing shaded locations to become moist.

Stagnant Water

This the most important of all. If you have stagnant water in your yard, you're going to be producing mosquitoes. Mosquitoes only need an inch of water to breed in. They'll use still water that is being contained by a clog in your gutter system. They'll use a puddle that forms next to your home after it rains. They'll use rainwater that has collected on an object in your yard. It takes a few days for mosquitoes to fully develop from egg to adult (flying) mosquito.

How does this knowledge help us control mosquitoes? When you actively reduce stagnant water in your yard, you reduce mosquitoes. Inspect your yard and remove any conditions that allow water to sit for days. If you have a birdbath, change the water weekly to prevent eggs from developing into fully formed adult mosquitoes. If you have a tire swing, poke a hole in the bottom to keep mosquitoes from breeding in the tire. If you have a kiddie pool, turn it over when the kids aren't using it. If your kids leave a frisbee lying on the ground, store it away. When you work to remove mosquito breeding sites, you have a big impact on the number of mosquitoes in your yard.

When you partner with a pest management professional, your PMP will help you identify mosquito breeding sites and also treat still water resources with a larvicide that will prevent mosquito development.

Mosquito control is a process that takes effort but, when you have ongoing seasonal mosquito service, it takes a whole lot less effort. Treating mosquito resting sites not only eliminates adult mosquitoes on your property, it prevents those mosquitoes from breeding in your neighborhood, so you don't have to worry if your neighbors have a lot of breeding sites in their yards.

If you live in North Carolina, and you've never tried mosquito service, give it a shot and find out what a difference it can make.