You probably enjoy getting to spend time out in your garden doing work. Lots of people use gardening as a way to unwind and it’s certainly a good hobby to have.
There are certain times of the year when gardening might become a bit more difficult than usual, though. If there are lots of mosquitoes in your area during certain parts of the summer, then you might have a tough time being outside.
Some people even wind up having a high concentration of mosquitoes right in their garden areas. This is unfortunate since it can make it tough to avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes while gardening.
Is there anything you can do to make the mosquitoes go away? Can you get rid of them so that you can finally garden in peace again?
Keep reading to get all of the details about how you can get rid of mosquitoes in your garden. Once you’ve learned what you need to do, it’ll be simple to get the problem under control.
1 – Get Rid of Standing Water
Standing water will allow mosquitoes to breed easily and you’ll wind up getting overwhelmed by mosquitoes if you have a ton of standing water on your property. It’s going to be best to start things out by determining where all of the standing water spots are located in your yard.
You might have areas of your yard that dip a bit and this can allow water to pool. Sometimes you’ll have standing water on your porch, deck, or patio areas as well because you don’t have adequate drainage.
It might be necessary to make some landscaping changes to try to keep water from pooling like this. In the case of having dips in your yard, you’ll be able to level the yard out by adding dirt to specific spots.
If water is pooling on your porch, deck, or patio, then it might be because your gutters aren’t draining properly. Try to ensure that you keep your gutters clean so that they will drain the right way and force water to go toward sewers or other types of drainage solutions.
Taking these steps will allow you to keep standing water on your property to a minimum. You could even go the extra mile and try to remove puddles of water after heavy rainfall has occurred.
If you can’t get rid of standing water entirely, then you can try to make it so that mosquito eggs won’t hatch. Coffee grounds are perfect for killing mosquito eggs before they get a chance to hatch.
You just need to sprinkle coffee grounds in standing water and it’ll force the eggs to float to the top. This deprives the eggs of oxygen and ensures that the mosquitoes will die before being able to hatch.
Try to be mindful of standing water and you’ll have fewer mosquitoes to deal with on your property. As long as you remain vigilant, it’s going to make a difference.
2 – Plant Specific Plants in Your Garden That Mosquitoes Dislike
One of the best ways to get mosquitoes to stay away from your garden is to plant specific plants there. There are actually quite a few fragrant plants that are capable of repelling mosquitoes.
You should try planting things such as holy basil or lavender in your garden to make mosquitoes want to stay far away. Many other plants work nicely for this as well so you could decide to plant marigolds, rosemary, catnip, bee balm, or even garlic.
Generally, mosquitoes seem to want to stay away from plants with powerful smells. You can use this to your advantage and create protection for yourself using these plants.
You can grow other plants in your garden as well, but having these fragrant plants around the border of your garden area should help to keep you safe. It’ll make it that much easier to garden in peace again without getting bitten by pesky mosquitoes.
This is going to be a great way to keep mosquito issues in the garden to a minimum. You’ll see far fewer mosquitoes near the garden if you plant things that they don’t like, and you’re already taking care of plants in the garden anyway.
3 – Buy Mosquito Repellent Sprays
There are mosquito repellent sprays on the market that you can purchase. You can go to many department stores and buy repellent sprays that will work nicely to get rid of the mosquitoes in your garden.
Since you’re going to be spraying in a garden area, it’s going to be wise to look for sprays that don’t contain chemicals that will harm plants. Do your best to find plant-safe repellent sprays and you should be good to go.
When you have what you need, you’re just going to want to spray the area thoroughly so that you won’t be bothered by mosquitoes so much moving forward. Many of these sprays will kill mosquitoes quite quickly, and some of them will have lingering effects that will help to protect your garden for a time.
This means that you can spray the garden area every so often to try to keep mosquitoes from bothering you there. You might need to do this several times a year, but it’ll be worth it if you want to be able to garden without having to worry about mosquitoes.
4 – You Can Buy Mosquito Repellent to Spray on Yourself
It’s also worth noting that some of the most common types of mosquito repellent sprays are meant for spraying on yourself. You’re probably familiar with bug sprays that people use when they go camping.
You can buy some of these sprays to use whenever you want to go use the garden. This will keep the mosquitoes off of you and it’ll allow you to do your thing.
Overall, these sprays work pretty well and they’re not all that expensive to purchase. It’s worth a shot if you’re looking for a simple way to get through mosquito season while still being able to work in your garden.
Of course, this isn’t something that will get rid of the mosquitoes in the garden. It’ll just make them want to stay away from you specifically because you’ll have chemicals on your skin that mosquitoes don’t like.
5 – Buy a Bug Zapper
Buying a bug zapper is another idea that could work out well for you. You see, bug zappers are great for killing mosquitoes and many people like to hang them outdoors in specific spots.
These zappers emit light that attracts mosquitoes and compels them to come closer. When the mosquitoes get too close, they’re going to get zapped by electricity and will be killed.
Buying one of these will help you to kill many mosquitoes in your yard. You could choose to place one of these near the garden area so that mosquitoes that do come around will be likely to get killed by the zapper.
You’ll love the fact that these zappers are incredibly affordable, too. They don’t cost all that much money at all and that makes them a very practical tool to use in the battle against mosquitoes in the garden.
6 – Call Professionals to Come to Spray Your Yard
In areas that have really bad mosquito issues, it might be better to just call professionals. You could take the time to contact a local pest control service to get a bit of help.
These experts can come out to your home to spray things and get rid of mosquitoes. They have access to a powerful mosquito spray that can get rid of mosquitoes for quite a long time.
After they have sprayed your property, it’ll be easier for you to just focus on gardening and enjoying yourself. It’ll allow you to go back to focusing on what matters instead of having to be concerned about mosquitoes.
This will be more expensive than the other methods mentioned so far. You’ll have to pay a bit of cash to get professionals to spray your yard and your home for mosquitoes, but it might be worth it if your mosquito issues are particularly bad.
Final Thoughts
There are a number of different things that you can do to get rid of mosquitoes in your garden area. You will be able to garden without getting bothered by mosquitoes if you utilize the advice above properly.
You need to start things out by eliminating sources of standing water to keep the mosquitoes from breeding. This helps to keep the mosquito problems from getting worse and it’s something that you won’t want to ignore.
Next, you might want to plant some plants that will help to repel mosquitoes in your garden. There are tons of plants to choose from and lavender, mint, holy basil, garlic, and marigolds have proven to be popular options.
It’s easy to go out and buy chemical sprays that are meant to kill and repel mosquitoes as well. If you wish to spray your garden area, then you should just look for sprays that are safe to use near plants.
There’s always the option of buying standard mosquito repellent sprays to spray on your body, too. These work well enough to keep mosquitoes off of you while you’re working in the garden.
If things are quite bad in your yard, then call pest control professionals to come out and spray the yard. This will get rid of mosquitoes quickly and it’ll protect your yard for a certain amount of time.
Growing up with a mom who filled her home (inside and out) with all sorts of plants, Lisa got her start in gardening at a young age. Living now on her own with a home and yard full of plants (including an indoor greenhouse), she shares all the gardening tips she’s gained over the years.