Backyard mosquito advice?

There’s a product at Lowes called Eco [Smart] – i need to get a new bottle and can’t recall the full name but it starts with Eco and is a white bottle in the bug spray section.  It is all natural from lemongrass and other oils, smells great and actually kills the bugs.  I’ve tried all sorts of products over the years and this one has been the most effective.  You have to have a hose in your yard or whever you are spraying it to attach to the sprayer, which mixes the product with water.  I try to coat the grass and all bushes pretty well and I also shoot over the fences it my neighbors’ yards as much as possible – none of them mind.  I get about two to three uses from a bottle and respray every few weeks or so.

Colonel

in Garden 13 years and 8 months ago

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butterfingers | 13 years and 8 months ago

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Our shady backyard is lousy with mosquitoes and therefore goes largely unused.  In an effort to deal with the pest situation, we are considering removing some of our trees (= more sun) and/or building an elevated deck off the parlor floor.  

Before I sink our hard earned $$ into these projects, I thought I would plumb the community wisdom to determine whether anyone has had success with either of these measures.

Thoughts are appreciated!

tinarina | 13 years and 8 months ago

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We have a very sunny backyard, so I don’t think removing trees are the answer (and has a lot of negatives), nor is a deck (we get bitten on our deck all the time). Mosquitoes are a real problem–consider bug spray, bug zappers, citronella candles and the like. But it’s virtually impossible to make your property bug-free when the the whole neighborhood has them.

HouseNut | 13 years and 8 months ago

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We have the same issue.  I bought a big ole hick bug zapper, and although we don’t run it all the time, it doesn’t seem to make a huge dent in the swarms.  Our backyard is somewhat shady but is surrounded by big trees.  I have retreated to the front stoop, and I am bummed.

cupolacoffee | 13 years and 8 months ago

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Mosquitos are far more a standing water thing, than they are a sun/shade thing. To reduce mosquito breeding, you AND your neighbors need to regularly clean or get rid of standing water in bird baths, fountains, wading pools, potted plant trays, clogged roof gutters, rain puddles on roofs, patios, in gardens, trash barrels, etc.

Silvermax | 13 years and 8 months ago

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Cupolacoffee is right — standing water is the main source. Bug zappers don’t work and do more harm than good — they kill mosquito predators. Buy some mosquito dunks at your hardware to use in rain barrels or ponds or bird baths. This URL may help: http://insects.about.com/od/insectpests/a/mosquitocontrol.htm

brucef | 13 years and 8 months ago

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Standing water isn’t always apparent. Sometimes a dry well (drain under a cover that goes nowhere) can collect water. Pour a small amount of Clorox in to kill/prevent mosquitos.

daveinbedstuy | 13 years and 8 months ago

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Others will chastise me for this but the only thing that works, and works well, is to blast the yard with Yard Guard spray about 10 mins before you want to use it.  It works really well.  I never found it locally and bought it out in the country.  I’m sure you can get it online.  Ortho makes similar products.  I think there are now some that are longer lasting that you attach to the hose and spray.

wyckoff | 13 years and 8 months ago

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We use a combination of St. Gabriel Mosquito Repellent (all natural) sprayed around the perimeter every 3-4 weeks, and Thermacell lamps when we are actuall out in the yard using it.  We don’t have any issues when we do this, but cannot use the yard without it.   Sun/Shade doesn’t matter much, and mosquito dunks in your outside drains are a good idea, but you will never be able to control what happens in your neighbors yards so don’t worry too much about it.