Don’t let mosquitos bug you in your garden. Tips to keep them away and protect yourself
While thinking about how best to protect ourselves from the diseases mosquitos carry let’s think about their benefits as well. Only the females of some species bite us. Male mosquitos feed on sugars such as nectar. The females also feed on nectar but require blood to become mothers. This nectar feeding provides some pollination. Mosquitos are also important food sources for fish, birds, bats, and frogs. There are thousands of mosquito species in the world and only a few bite humans and transmit disease to humans.
Although mosquitoes are beneficial to the wider ecosystem, we need to protect ourselves from mosquito-borne diseases such as West Nile Virus, Eastern Equine Encephalitis, and Zika. The single most important way to protect ourselves is to eliminate standing water. They only need a small amount of water to lay their eggs. Even a bottle cap will do. Landscape to prevent standing water in puddles. Clean up leaf litter, gutters, buckets, discarded tires, etc. It only takes a few days for mosquitos to go from egg to adult. Empty children’s pools and birdbaths twice a week. Chlorinate larger pools.
BTI (Bacillus thuringiensis) is a good choice to add to water you cannot empty such as drainage ditches. BTI contains spores that produce toxins that specifically kill mosquito larvae. It will not harm the environment, pets, or humans. For more information go to EPA website.
It is often said that you can protect your yard by gardening with flowers such as lavender, marigolds, catnip, chrysanthemums, and citronella. Including them in your garden will not protect your yard. The plants only have a noticeably short range of effect. Consumer Reports has investigated this at Consumer Reports.
To help protect yourself from mosquito bites, use insect repellants. Be sure to follow the directions on the container. Permethrin repellants can be used to treat your clothes. Wear protective clothing that covers as much of your body as possible.
Mosquitos can bite you any time of the day. When resting in vegetation they will rise from the lower vegetation if disturbed. You can keep mosquitos away using a fan. If you are gardening away from electrical outlets consider purchasing a battery-operated fan. There are many available these days.
Cornell Cooperative Extension Oneida County answers home and garden questions which can be emailed to homeandgarden@cornell.edu or call 315-736-3394, press 1 and ext. 333. Leave your question, name and phone number. Questions are answered on weekdays, 8am to 4pm. Also, visit our website at Cornell Cooperative Extension Oneida County or phone 315-7
