Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Help with Mosquitoes?

To my great disappointment our yard at the new house in Connecticut is overrun with mosquitoes. Since we moved from Maine many years ago where mosquitoes were terrible, we have not lived in places where they were a problem (New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia). Even though we live in the woods in Virginia and by a lake, I can lie in the hammock all day and see only one mosquito.

So after living "mosquito free" it is annoying to have the problem again. We do plan to put up a bat house but I read that can sometimes take a year before they move in. I found a web site advertising "Mosquito Barrier" a garlic based liquid. Has anyone tried this?



My son-in-law has read that planting mints and marigolds near the house is a natural deterrent. Certainly worth a try. There is no standing water in the neighborhood. There is a river down the hill but it is moving water and not swampy.

I love to be on the porch, and work in the garden as well as take photo walks. Pesky mosquitoes will hamper these activities. Also Mr. B has a serious reaction to the bites. Our cats go in an out and sometimes not quickly so the door is held open. I would appreciate any suggestions!

4 comments:

GardenOfDaisies said...

And I want to hear the suggestions made too. I seem to be a mosquito magnet. Seriously, I will have 5 or 6 mosquitos biting my legs when I go out to water my potted plants. (Benadryl anti itch cream has become my new best friend.) I do not have any standing water either.

Anonymous said...

There's a site called mosquitoes101.com. that tells you what works and what doesn't. We use an electric bug zapper that SEEMS to cut down on some of the mosquitoes. When we sit out on our deck we use citronella candles. I used to live in Connecticut, so I know firsthand how bad the mosquitoes are! Hope you find something that works!

Martha said...

Stillwater can be birdbaths, too -- it doesn't take much to breed a mosquito! Let me know if that works for we have them too in summer.

Beyond the Dog Dish said...

I know of people that use garlic tabs and swear they keep the fleas/ticks down on their dogs so I would think this spray would work quite well! Would love to hear if it works for you. If our in a thick infested area, I would add the elecric zapper for those bad nights.