Spending time outside is my “safe place.” I recently went for a run, and while I was measuring my blood pressure with my fitness watch, I got bit by a mosquito. And when I got back home, more mosquitoes. I went to fire up my barbeque, and more mosquitoes. That’s when I took charge and really started to learn how to keep mosquitoes away from my yard.
How do you get rid of mosquitoes in your yard?
There are a lot of techniques I’ve tried and learned about.
Today I’m going to teach you how to rid a yard of mosquitoes using techniques that actually work.
How to Get Rid of Mosquitoes in Your Yard Using 4 Tricks
1. Remove Standing Water from Your Yard
Do you want to know how to get rid of mosquitoes in your yard naturally? One of the key ways to do this is to remove the standing water from your yard. I recommend that you:
- Walk your yard after a rainstorm to see where water is puddling
- Try to correct any issues with your grading that may be leading to this pooling of water
- Remove any birdbaths or other objects that you have outside that collect water
Mosquitoes love water, and if you ever go outside after a rainstorm, you’ll notice that they seem to be everywhere. If you want to get rid of mosquitoes in your yard, you need to focus on the standing water first.
This may require you to hire a grader to fix issues with your current drainage. You may need to go to a home improvement store and purchase some sand or other material to fill in these areas where water seems to gather.
2. Use a Bug Zapper Like BuzzBGone
When I first wanted to learn how to get rid of mosquitoes in my yard, I turned to one of those bug zappers that I always saw my family members have. These zappers attract mosquitoes and kill them using electricity.
If you’re against killing bugs, keep in mind that mosquitoes transmit a lot of diseases and are going to eat you alive outside.
I chose to go with BuzzBGone, which I have reviewed in depth for you. This is a great product that I first found out about on social media. All my friends were talking about it, so I gave it a try.
Affordable and easy to use, this is one of the products I recommend that you start with first because it will allow you to immediately reduce the mosquito population in your yard.
3. Tidy Up Your Yard
If you’re aiming for a long-term mosquito solution, you’ll want to know how to keep mosquitoes out of your yard through tidying up.
An unkempt yard is one that will attract mosquitoes and a variety of additional pests, including:
- Snakes
- Rats
- Ants
- Termites (in some cases)
- Beetles
- More
Every yard is different, so the larger space you have, the more work you will have to do. You’ll want to have a few major tools available to you, including a lawn mower, chainsaw and a string trimmer.
When you come outside, make sure that you clean up any large pile of leaves that may be attracting water as well as minimizing any tall grass or limbs that may be in your yard.
The main reason for cutting back these limbs and trimming your grass is so that more sun can hit the ground. When the sun hits the top soil, it will help get rid of the wet spots in the space that attract mosquitoes.
When you have uneven terrain, you’ll want to either use topsoil or another type of soil to fill in these uneven terrains in your yard. After you do this, I do suggest that you plant grass seed because grass will help absorb the water.
If you have large wood piles outside, you will also want to clean up this wood piles because of other pests. Wood piles are known to attract snakes, rats and other pests that you don’t want in your yard. The moisture from the wood can also attract mosquitoes that you’re trying to keep out of your yard.
4. Use an Outdoor Fan – Seriously
Do you need how to get rid of mosquitoes in yard for a party that you’re holding shortly? If so, one of the tips that I learned after reading through dozens of websites was to actually install an oscillating pedestal fan.
When this was done, Consumer Reports found that having a fan reduced the number of mosquitoes more than using citronella candles or other techniques.
If you ask people in the tropics how to get rid of mosquitoes in a backyard, they’ll often recommend this tip to you. The main reason is that mosquitoes love to be in areas that are tropical. The tropics offers the perfect climate for mosquitoes, and there’s usually not much wind to deal with.
The fan will work in two main ways to keep mosquitoes away, and it could reduce the number of landings of mosquitoes by as much as 65%.
- When you have a fan on, it creates a steady breeze that makes it difficult for mosquitoes to land or make contact with you.
- You emit carbon dioxide from your body, and a fan will help disperse this carbon dioxide that mosquitoes like. Carbon dioxide actually guides the mosquitoes when their feeding, so when it’s dispersed, they’ll come near you far less often.
Of course, these are just a few tips on how to keep mosquitoes out of your yard. You can also spray repellent on yourself to keep them from biting you, or you can try and plant citronella plants around your house.
A lot of people will place citronella candles in their patios and light them to keep mosquitoes from coming around. This will have varying degrees of success according to who you talk to, but it definitely can’t hurt.
With a little work and patience, you will be able to keep your yard mosquito-free. But no matter what you do, after a major rainstorm you’re still likely to see mosquitoes flying around. The techniques that we discussed will keep the number of mosquitoes to a minimum.