If you have mosquitoes at your place ...

 

The hotter part of the summer is coming and with it are likely to be more mosquitoes.  Since it is no fun to sleep with all the windows shut in hot weather, we thought we’d have a look at how to avoid these rather annoying and itchy insects! 

Photo Tony Willis - iNaturalist

Mosquitoes breed in water, so if they are coming in your window, it is likely that there is some water lying around somewhere nearby. It doesn’t have to be much – a small puddle in an old tyre or under a pot plant is all they need!  Getting rid of these little bits of water round your house can make a big difference to whether you have mosquitoes or not.

These are simple things to do in your backyard to get rid of mosquito habitat:

·         Checks gutters and drains are clear of leaves and other debris regularly - this stops water from pooling.

·         Make sure rain water collecting tanks are covered and sealed.

·         Empty paddling pools regularly and keep free of dead leaves.

·         Empty and clean pot plant drip trays and fill with sand (sand stores the water for the plants but is not suitable for mosquitoes).

·         Empty and clean pet drinking water vessels regularly.

·         Fish ponds - try to find fish species that love mosquito larvae.

·         Old tyres - mosquitoes love tyres! Make sure they have a drain hole in them or get rid of them completely.

·         Make sure you remove any rubbish such as old cans, tins, jars, bottles or any other items including plastic bags that can hold water.

·         Under the trees - try to provide a heavy mulch to prevent water from pooling, weed mat compresses the soil and often results in pooling under the weed mat that those clever mosquitoes can still get at.