Getting Rid of the Pesky Mosquito
May 15th, 2010 Categories: Alexandria
Just as the days grow longer and air turns warmer – and many of us are beginning to spend extended hours outside – along come those pesky flying annoyances – MOSQUITOES!
Our local neighborhood list serv, the font of all useful information, has been full of back and forth on the best ways of getting rid of these regular visitors.
One of our neighbors, Eric Graves, technology guru by day and avid gardener by night, had by far the most cogent post on natural ways to eliminate welcoming environments for mosquitoes. Eric is graciously allowing us to share his thoughts:
- Mosquitoes breed in water.
- Mosquitoes live a fairly short life.
- Mosquitoes don’t tend, absent high winds, to travel very far in their short lives.
- Mosquitoes breed VERY quickly.
So, we each have what I think is an opportunity and a responsibility to make the neighborhood more livable by controlling mosquito breeding in our own yards. We can easily do the following -
1. Keep gutters cleaned out.
2. REPLACE corrugated gutter hoses with lengths of aluminum downspout. I did this and painted it to blend into the garden bed it runs through. Not only do mosquitoes not breed but the gutters clog less because debris isn’t backing up in the hose.
3. Keep the gutters in the street cleaned of debris.
4. Be aware of which plants hold water on their leaves. Hosta are the worst for this. The fact that they grow in shade make them prime breeding ground. Water at the base of these plants as opposed to from above. You’ll both save water and deprive the mosquito. It’s a win-win technique.
5. Be very critical and aware of places water can pool. It goes WAY beyond tarps. Empty flower pots? Yup. Kids toys? Yup. The trash can lid? Recycling bin? The list is potentially endless.
6. Keep your lawn cut and the garden weeded.
Simple steps – big results.
Thanks to Eric and our neighborhood list serv for these great tips on getting rid of the pesky mosquito!
Michael
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A woman at work was telling us she had to hire anmial control people to remove bats from a rental property she owns (they were in the attic, not in a cute little box out in the tree). She was charged $100 for each removal. They apparently have to be hauled at least 50 miles way or they will return like homing pigeons. The first night they took over 100 bats. The second night they took only one bat, but it still cost $100! I wonder if someone who lives out there 50 miles away will hire them to remove bats and they will be brought back this way to eventually take up residence where they were to begin with.