Tips for Keeping Mosquitoes Away From Your Home
If you want to spend anytime outdoors on your property, you are going to want to make sure that you are as comfortable as possible. One major problem that could get in the way of you being comfortable hanging outside on your patio or working in the garden is the existence of mosquitoes. If you constantly have mosquitoes flying around you and trying to bite you, you are going to be irritated and itchy. This could make you not want to go outside at all. Here are some tips for keeping mosquitoes away from your home so that you can enjoy your patio and garden in peace.
1. Be Sure You Don't Have Puddles of Stagnant Water
The first thing that you want to do is make sure that you don't have puddles of stagnant water. These could be caused if you are not dispersing rainwater from your roof properly. If you just have it dumping from your gutters into a single spot, you are going to saturate the ground there and cause a pool of standing water that mosquitoes will be attracted to. This can make your outdoor situation worse. To deal with this problem, place a bucket where the water is pouring from your gutters onto the ground and commit to emptying it on a regular basis. Do this until you can fix your gutters to disperse the water more evenly. This will help reduce the pools of standing water that you have on your property and, therefore, reduce the issue of mosquitoes.
2. Plant Citronella
Some plants, such as citronella, will naturally produce chemicals that will repel mosquitoes. However, these chemicals are only released if the plants are physically harmed. Plant citronella and then, before you are going to have a party or be outside for any length of time, use your hands to manually rough up the plants. Do this a few hours before the party. This will give the plant enough time to react to it being harmed. You will not do permanent damage to your plant.
3. Spray the Day Before an Event
Finally, hire a company that specializes in mosquito control. Have them spray the day before a party, rather than the day of the party, in order to completely rid your patio and garden of mosquitoes for the big event.
For more information, talk to a company like Mosquito Shield that specializes in mosquito spraying.