Pleasant, warmer temperatures bring an unwanted guest with them: mosquitoes! In Tennessee, mosquitos are most commonly a problem beginning as early as March and all the way through September. Basically, the entirety of spring and summer!
Thankfully, there are several straightforward, effective things you can do to avoid an influx of mosquitoes in your yard during these seasons.
Call Certified Pest Control to keep your Nashville mosquito problem under control!
Keep Up with Your Yard
Just like most creatures, mosquitoes seek out shady areas to cool-off. This makes tall grass, overgrown hedges, and dense bushes prime gathering places for them. New research has shown that mosquitos will even lay their eggs on leaves!
If you are regularly cutting your grass and trimming your bushes, however, this will prevent overgrowth and minimize mosquitoes’ opportunities to lay-low in the heat of the day – and to re-emerge at night. And with the new research findings, plan to pick-up and dispose of leaves in your yard, too.
Eliminate, Treat Water Sources
Because it is the female mosquitoes that bite and feed on blood to produce their eggs, they will look for nearby shallow water sources to lay those eggs – either on the water or simply near it. And it doesn’t take much; even an ounce of water is a prime spot for mosquito larvae to grow.
Here are several examples of water sources to treat or eliminate:
- Purchase and place mosquito dunks in shallow water sources such as bird baths and plant trays to prevent breeding.
- Treat pools and hot tubs with chlorine.
- Drain boggy, swampy, or watery areas in your yard.
- Empty small fountains and birdbaths once a week to dispose of mosquito larvae.
- Keep your gutters.
- Consider other places where water may be pooling: old tires, buckets, toys, boats, and trailers can all accumulate water, especially after a spring rain.
Use Yellow Lighting
While your first thought might be citronella candles or torches, did you know that yellow lighting also deters mosquitos? Mosquitoes don’t gravitate to yellow lighting the way they do traditional incandescent lights.
Consider installing yellow lighting in areas such as your front porch, patio, or backyard. Setting yellow lanterns on your outdoor furniture or positioned around your pool is also effective. A particularly stylish option is to hang yellow string lights!
Set Up Fans
Another practical idea for keeping mosquitoes away while you’re outside? Set up a fan! If you think about it, mosquitoes are weak flying insects, so the powerful breeze from a fan makes it difficult for them to fly.
On a less obvious note, fans also decrease the scent of body odor and carbon dioxide humans emit that, haphazardly, also attract mosquitoes.
Treat Your Yard
Pest control technicians are your best bet for preventing mosquitos, and for two reasons:
- They can treat your yard to kill mosquitoes as well as prevent them from breeding.
- They can find problematic areas of your yard that might be contributing to a heavy influx of mosquitoes.
Certified Pest Control offers monthly mosquito treatments solely during the months of the year with active mosquitoes. Our mosquito control process involves using a heavy duty, backpack-powered sprayer to treat trees and bushes in your yard and any sources these pests might use to lay their eggs.
Contact us today!
