15 TIPS TO REPEL MOSQUITOES NATURALLY
Standing water is mosquito breeding ground heaven. Along with eliminating all standing water sites on your property, try these tips to keep those buzzing, biting bugs at bay.
1. Try feeding garlic supplement to your horses and taking (odorless) garlic supplement yourself.
2. Place a few sprigs of rosemary or sage on top of your barbecue coals.
3. Plant some bamboo. Dragonflies love to eat mosquitoes and are drawn to bamboo plants.
4. Natural repellant plants include: basil, citronella grass, eucalyptus, geranium, lemon thyme and tomato plants.
5. Bti (Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis) is a bacterium that controls mosquitoes and black flies in their larval stage. The larvae die after consuming the bacteria and developing a disease specific to them, but harmless to all other forms of wildlife. Bti granular can be broadcast (2.5 to 10 pounds per acre).
6. Identify and eliminate all sources of standing water that collects on your property. Mosquitoes will breed in any puddle that lasts more than four days.
7. Drill holes in the bottom of recycling containers that are left out of doors. Drainage holes that are located on the container sides collect enough water for mosquitoes to breed in.
8. Have clogged roof gutters cleaned on an annual basis, particularly if the leaves from surrounding trees have a tendency to block drains.
9. Turn over plastic wading pools when not in use. A wading pool becomes a place for mosquitoes to breed if it is not used on a regular basis.
10. Turn over wheelbarrows and do not allow water to stagnate in birdbaths.
11. Aerate ornamental pools or stock them with fish. Water gardens are fashionable but become major mosquito breeding grounds if they are allowed to stagnate.
12. Keep swimming pools clean and chlorinated. A swimming pool that is left untended becomes a source of mosquito breeding. Be aware that mosquitoes may even breed in the water that collects on swimming pool covers.
13. www.mosquitobarrier.com - garlic spray for grassy fields and standing water
14. www.mosquitomagnet.com – mechanical CO2 dispenser draws mosquitoes to a trap
15. From www.myfineequine.com: An August 2001 article in Scientific American claims CATNIP repels mosquitoes 10 times more effectively than DEET, the active ingredient found in most insect repellents.