Ouch! Nothing ruins a summer evening like having to swat off hungry mosquitoes. Fortunately, you don't need to lather yourself with toxic chemicals or resort to bug zappers to fend off the pesky biters. Here are five ways to repel mosquitoes from your yard, and your skin, this summer.
1. Make friends with bats. Some bat species can eat up to 1,000 mosquitoes in an hour! You can attract these beneficial bug eaters by installing a bat house in your yard. Visit Bat Conservation International for installation advice and to buy a shelter or get plans to build your own.
2. Grow catnip (and other plants). Plant some catnip (Nepeta cataria) in your garden; not only will it repel mosquitoes, but you'll get some pretty flowers, too. Other mosquito-repelling plants include rosemary, marigolds, citronella grass, and lemon balm.
3. Light a candle. If you're averse or allergic to citronella, or want something more beautiful (and, yes, more expensive) than the typical citronella candle bucket, you might like these mosquito repellent candles from Hillhouse Naturals. Made with soy and ingredients like eucalyptus, lemongrass, and mint, they come in concrete containers that can be reused as planters.
4. Buy a natural bug repellent. Conventional repellents contain the chemical DEET, which may be toxic and harmful to the environment. We've had good luck with the plant-based Repel Lemon Eucalyptus. For more alternatives, see the Daily Green's list of 7 Natural Insect Repellents.
5. Or blend your own. For a DIY mosquito repellent, you'll need essential oil and something to mix it with, like vodka, olive oil, or witch hazel. For best results, combine a few different essential oils such as lemon eucalyptus, citronella, cinnamon, cedarwood, and juniper. For instructions, visit About.com and Mother Earth News.
Related: Natural Remedy: 5 Plants That Repel Mosquitoes
(Images: Flickr member birdfreak licensed under Creative Commons, Flickr member ali graney licensed under Creative Commons, Hillhouse Naturals, Repel, Flickr member Helena Liu licensed under Creative Commons)
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Dragonflies also eat mosquitoes.
I thought bats were dangerous to have around children and pets, as their poop (guano?) can cause severe illness and death?
Zhahira: I believe that you are thinking of the histoplasmosis fungi that bats can be infected by. The infection leads to infected droppings that can become a perfect habitat for the histoplasmosis spores if allowed to pile up. If the infected pile of droppings is disturbed, for example when cleaning a attic, spores can whirl up in the air and enter the lungs. Histoplasmosis often have the same symptoms as flue, but can be more troublesome for persons with a dysfunctional immune system.
However, the illness is not very common.
If the bat roost is placed outdoors the droppings decomposes in very short time, providing excellent nutrients for the soil.
Getting rid of any standing water is also important.
I don't have any trees of my own--I wonder if bats will live in a bat house on the side of a garage? My back yard fenced, it is very quiet, I have no outside pets, and no children.
I did some research and some studies suggested that the concentration of plant oils in natural bug sprays might be just as toxic as DEET.
The best way I have found to keep mosquitoes at bay is to take a good garlic supplement every day.
Kuroneko- I imagine they would like that just fine. Once had a neighbor who had bats living in her garage right next to their back door. People and dogs going in and out didn't really bother them.
Kentucky16- I've never heard of taking garlic supplements to keep them away, but after the failure of everything mentioned above I'm ready to try! Thanks for sharing!
The picture of the bat house contains some misleading information. Bathouses actually should NOT be mounted in trees if you want bats to actually occupy them because they need morning sun exposure and because the tree branches are an obstruction that bats will try to avoid. There is some great tips here to help avoid bathouse placement failure. http://www.batmanagement.com/Batcentral/batboxes/whyfail.html
As it turns out, bats are kind particular about their little apartments :)