19 Best Ways To Get Rid Of Mosquitoes – Naturally!

Mosquitoes are the curse of people who love the outdoors.

I love to garden. I love to be outside walking in my backyard homestead or even just sitting on the back porch sipping iced tea. But-I-hate-mosquitoes! Those blood-sucking, disease-carrying, lump raising, make me itch all night long, mosquitoes.  And often those two things conflict. Let’s face it, a lot of times those things conflict. But what can you do about it without dousing everything with a truckload of chemicals?

 

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How To Get Rid Of Mosquitoes.

I live in Southwest Florida and I know a thing or two about mosquitoes. That’s not bragging, that’s complaining, pure and simple. In fact, I remember one day, as a child, my dad coming home saying he was going to put a mosquito in a jar and walk north until someone said: “what is that”.

But since even Alaska has mosquitoes, I think he would have been walking for a very long time.

I think of that day every time I’m outside trying to enjoy a campfire with my friends or picking cherry tomatoes for my dinner, or feeding my ducks. And I hear that oh too familiar buzz.

 

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But how do you get rid of mosquitoes?

How do you even make a dent in them and take back the outdoors?

There are a lot of poisons that can be sprayed around the yard and on you, but for someone who likes to garden organically, I don’t consider that the best option. (trust me, I know it’s tempting.)

But how do you get rid of the mosquitoes so you can enjoy your lawn again?

Getting rid of mosquitoes is not a one-time effort or just one kind of solution. These pesky critters need a multi-pronged approach. So here are 19 ways to rid your yard of mosquitoes. You will want to employ as many of these as you possibly can, for the maximum results. Here is my list of things to do to reduce the horde that is trying to leave your dead dry lifeless body lying in your yard. (Can you tell I don’t like them?)

 

1. Don’t Give Mosquitoes A Place To Breed

Standing water is the best friend of mosquitoes. Just a tiny bit of water is all a mosquito needs to lay her eggs. Then in a very short time they hatch, pupate and become an adult. Then they start looking for warm blood so the cycle can start all over again. Mosquitoes only travel about a mile from where they hatch so careful attention to making sure they have nowhere to breed is your best defense.

 

2. Check Containers

It doesn’t take much water either. I walked out my back door, where my potting bench is, a couple of weeks ago and was met by a curtain of mosquitoes. I’m usually very careful to make sure I don’t leave anything that will collect water, but something was the culprit. I started looking at the saucers under the plants, the dog’s water dish, and I finally found it. There under the potting bench was the watering can that I had forgotten to empty. I touched it and out came a cloud of mosquitoes.

Don’t forget to check for buckets, sandbox covers, toys, make sure all tarps and pool covers are pulled tight. It’s amazing what they can find that you won’t even think about.

Some plants can hold water too. Bromeliads are beautiful but are a wonderful breeding ground for mosquitos.

 

3. Clean Your Gutters

Gutters can back up and hold a surprising amount of water. After they are cleaned out, run water in them to make sure they don’t sag and collect puddles.

 

4. Check Birdbaths For Mosquito Larve

Give the birdbath a shake and you will be able to see the larvae squiggle down to the bottom. Make sure you clean it out regularly. Probably every day during the summer. Or you can add a water wiggler to keep those pests from laying eggs.

I also have to empty and refill my duck pond regularly, to keep it from becoming a breeding ground. Even though ducks love to eat mosquito larva, they can’t keep up with all that the mosquitoes can lay. Each female can lay about 500 eggs in her very short lifetime.

 

5. Drain Puddles

If you have standing water in your yard you should try to make sure it can properly drain. If that is not possible, you can try dumping your used coffee grounds in the puddles. Or use dunks. The active ingredient is BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) which is an organic pesticide. Remember, organic does not mean that it is “safe”. It still will kill beneficial insects right along with the bad guys.

 

 

6. Use Fountains

If you have a pond, put a fountain or some other type of aeration in it. Mosquitoes prefer stagnant water to lay their eggs. They don’t like water that is moving.

 

7. Use Fish

If you have a pond or rain barrel give mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) a try. They will devour a great number of mosquito eggs and larvae.

 

8. Lawn Work

Don’t give your mosquitoes a place to hide. They just love long grass. If you keep your grass cut and shrubs trimmed, the mosquitoes may find another place to hide out. Like down the road.

 

9. Plant An Herb Garden

There is more than one reason to have an herb garden growing right outside your back door. Not only is it convenient to run out and snip some herbs to put in the prize-winning sauce that you are making for dinner or mixing up some herbal tea for your hubbies sore throat. Many of the most common herbs are also quite helpful at keeping mosquitoes at bay. Having herbs right outside your door will make mosquitoes less likely to come inside your house.

Holy Basil, mint, lavender, citronella, lemongrass, rosemary, garlic, tulsi, lemon balm, and catnip are just a few.

Related: How To Grow An Herb Garden And Why You Should.

10. Fans

Fans can make life so much more pleasant. Not only to keep you cooler, but a fan blowing will disrupt the flight of a mosquito and they will try to avoid them.

If you are working in the garden, and the mosquitos are biting, a fan blowing on you can be a big help. (Just make sure it is battery-operated or has a safe outdoor cord.)

A fan on the porch is helpful in so many ways.

 

 

Use Mosquito Traps And Zaps

 

11. Low Tech Way To Get Rid Of Mosquitoes

A very simple mosquito trap can solve your indoor mosquito problem quickly. Mosquitoes are attracted to water as it’s necessary to breed the next generation. Try putting out a bucket of water, but put a few drops of dishwashing soap in it. Water has a natural adhesion (kind of like a skin) that mosquitoes can land on. Soap breaks that adhesion allowing the mosquitoes to sink and drown.

 

12. Medium Tech Bug Zappers

Quite simply a light to lure them in and an electrical grid (kind of like a toaster) to zap them.

 

13. High Tech Mosquito Control

The DynaTrap is a very effective way to rid your yard of mosquitoes. It does not utilize any chemicals — so it can safely be used both indoors and outdoors. It doesn’t zap them and doesn’t use propane so you do not need to purchase and refill propane tanks. It’s very quiet. Just plug it in and turn it on, let it run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It does take 4 to 6 weeks to break the mosquito lifecycle.

 

 

Getting Natures Help To Get Rid Of Mosquitoes

 

14. Invite The Birds

Many birds will help you keep your property free of mosquitos. Purple martins, chickadees, orioles, finches, cardinals, swallows, ducks, geese, and even hummingbirds are all known to eat a substantial amount of bugs including mosquitoes.

You can set up bird feeders to attract them to your yard. Give them a water source like a birdbath so they leave your tomatoes alone. (just make sure you empty it regularly.) You could even put up a birdhouse to get them to stay in your yard.

And what could be more fun than a hummingbird feeder and a few of their favorite plants to entice them to stick around. They can take out quite a few of those nasty bloodsuckers.

 

15. Welcome Bats

Yes, you read that right. Bats can eat up to 1000 mosquitoes per hour making them one of your strongest allies in the backyard mosquito war.

Some people will tell you that because bats eat other flying bugs such as moths and aren’t eating just mosquitoes, they aren’t worth worrying about. But if they are eating some of the moths that would lay the eggs for the tomato hornworm…I call that a win-win!

It can be as easy as putting up a few bat houses and making sure they have a water source. Then you can sit back at dusk and just before dawn and watch the ducking and diving and know they are doing their job of thinning the herd of mosquitoes.

But don’t bats carry rabies? While bats can carry rabies, (all mammals can) The vast majority of rabies cases are transmitted by dogs not bats. Let’s face it. Most bats are so small that if they were bitten by something that had rabies, it likely would just eat the bat.

Bat houses aren’t expensive either. You can have your own community of mosquito eradicators for under $40, and Bat Conservation International provides tips for installing a successful bat house.

 

 

Related: Simple Ways To Get Rid Of Tomato Horn Worms.

 

16. Encourage dragonflies

Dragonflies are also wonderful predators to keep mosquito populations low. Not only do they scavenge the skies in adulthood, but when a dragonfly is in its larval form, they eat large numbers of mosquito larvae (which happens in the water). This is especially useful if you have a pond.

Blooming plants also attract pollinators (like butterflies, beetles, wasps, moths, and other small flying insects) that dragonflies love to prey on. Water plants that grow near and within ponds are also highly sought out by dragonflies.

Blackeyed Susan, joe-Pye weed, meadow weed, white yarrow, and pond plants like arrowhead, water horsetail, cattail, and water lily will make dragonflies very happy.

 

17. Check with your neighbors.

Your working to get rid of mosquitoes will be for nothing if your next-door neighbor is breeding them. Organize a neighborhood mosquito watch and try to get everyone on board. (Provide food, that will get everyone to come and hear you out)

 

18. Dress For The Pests

It never hurts to wear the right clothes when you know mosquitoes will be about. Long sleeves and long pants that are loose-fitting but tight at the wrists and ankles are a good idea. Wear light-colored clothes because mosquitoes are attracted to dark colors.

 

19. Natural Mosquito Repellent

While all of these things will make a huge dent in your mosquito problem, nothing will get rid of them all. So a little natural mosquito repellent will help keep the rest at bay.

 

Get Rid Of Mosquitoes And Enjoy Your Summer

By combining these strategies, you will be able to get rid of those dreaded mosquitoes or at least drastically reduce them.

As a long-term solution, mosquito prevention is important. Avoid attracting them and make sure you don’t provide attractive breeding grounds. These should be your first steps to controlling the mosquito population in your house and yard.

Attracting a few mosquito predators is also a good idea. By combining these strategies, you will be able to take back your backyard.

Now that your yard is ready and you are wearing the right stuff. You are all ready to tackle that next outdoor project, mosquito-free.

 

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Happy Gardening!

I believe everyone can grow at least part of their own food! Let me show you how.