Who doesn’t want to enjoy warm summer evenings grilling out on the patio or throwing the ball with the kids or the dog? Sometimes even just sitting outdoors and listening to the sounds of the day unwinding can be peaceful and stress relieving. After all, your home landscape is meant to be enjoyed when the weather is at its best.
What no one wants are interruptions on your outdoor fun. And mosquitoes can certainly be an interruption. They are small and pesky and whir past your ears. What’s worse is their stings bring about nasty, itchy welts and can even cause some pretty bad diseases.
Covering every inch of yourself with bug spray isn’t always easy, and neither is wearing tons of layers of clothing on hot, summer nights.
What you need is a mosquito treatment for your yard that is timed to keep the pests away when they are most active.
Let’s talk about how mosquito yard treatment schedules so you can get a better idea of how they work, how often they are needed, and how they should be done to keep your home landscape mosquito free.
What You Need to Know About Mosquitoes in Northern Virginia
Mosquitoes are quite frustrating, for sure. They can stop you from spending time outside in your favorite places. On top of that, mosquitoes can be quite serious threats to you and your family’s health and safety.
Mosquitoes can actually carry diseases that can impact people’s health. These include malaria, dengue virus, Chikungunya virus, Zika virus, and West Nile virus, which can have disabling and potentially harmful effects. Not only can these diseases impact you and your family and friends, but mosquitoes can also transmit diseases and parasites to your dogs and cats, as well as other nearby outdoor animals and wildlife.
Where Do Mosquitoes Hang Out?
While mosquitoes can survive in quite a few places, they really like warm, wet weather, which we certainly have here in Northern Virginia.
They also like grassy areas, in addition to leaf piles, wood piles, and under decks where it’s dark and cool.
Mosquitoes are not strong flyers, so they actually stay a few hundred feet from where they are hatched, as long as food is near. As they fly, they rest every 5 to 10 yards.
Mosquitoes also like water quite a bit. They lay their eggs in standing water. The larvae spend their first 10 days there feeding on organic matter and breathing oxygen from the surface before becoming pupae and then becoming adults.
These pests can breed very quickly, doubling and tripping their numbers in small pools and puddles of water, as well as in swamps, marshes, ponds, rivers, and lakes, which is why mosquito yard treatments for your yard are so important.
When Do Mosquitoes Come Out?
The majority of mosquito activity actually peaks during dusk. That’s why when you’re outside during those lovely, summer evenings, you’re more likely to get bit by mosquitoes. However, some mosquitoes are also active during the morning and late afternoon, such as the Asian Tiger mosquito in Northern Virginia.
What draws mosquitoes is carbon dioxide – the gas that humans and animals exhale – and the chemicals in human sweat. Mosquitoes can sense carbon dioxide from 30 feet away, which is a great skill for them to use to be able to find their meals. This makes when to get mosquito yard treatment even more important to understand.
Mosquito Yard Treatment Prevention Tips
We know how frustrating it can be when insects so small can be so annoying and threaten your outside time in your own yard.
So you want to use mosquito yard treatments that work.
First, let’s start with some things you can do to prevent mosquitoes.
Limit Mosquito Hangouts
Mosquitoes like those dark, damp places, like under decks, as well as wood and leaf piles, and in grasses.
To reduce these pests in your yard, rake up leaf piles, trim overgrown grasses, and keep those wood piles at a minimum of 20 feet from your home or patio. This, in addition to mosquito yard treatments, can reduce populations in your landscape.
Eliminate Standing Water
Mosquitoes love water – it’s no secret.
Keep those puddles and areas of standing water at a minimum. Get rid of stagnant water spots, such as empty plant pots or trash can lids. Remember to freshen water in pet bowls and bird baths regularly as part of your mosquito treatment for your yard.
Embrace Effective, Organic Mosquito Yard Treatments in Northern Virginia
You want to stop the onslaught of mosquitoes as fast as possible with products that are safe and effective in your backyard so you don’t have to worry about them.
Enter an organic mosquito control known as cedar oil. Cedar oil blocks the bugs’ scent receptors, disrupting its internal systems and drying them up or deterring them.
Compared to synthetic products, cedar oil can be used in your entire yard as a mosquito yard treatment, including near areas where your children and pets frequent, such as patios and play areas.
How Often Should You Apply Cedar Oil Treatments?
When you use natural products like cedar oil for mosquito yard treatment, frequent applications during the pests’ primary season of activity are essential.
In Northern Virginia, applications typically begin in April and are applied through November to keep bugs away.
How Long Does Mosquito Treatment Last?
Starting in April, cedar oil treatments are a great way to keep mosquitoes away.
But no product lasts forever in a changing landscape that experiences sun and rain. These mosquito yard treatments for your yard tend to last about three weeks before another application is necessary to maintain control.
Throughout the season, you may receive approximately 12 applications for maximum protection.
Where Should Cedar Oil Applications Be Applied?
Cedar oils are applied to your entire yard – especially near mosquito hangouts – to begin to control and reduce mosquitoes.
Following visits may use less products as you have fewer pests to deal with.
When Do You Start Cedar Oil Mosquito Yard Treatments?
When to get mosquito yard treatments starts in April.
April is a key time of year since this is when mosquitoes are becoming most active and seeking blood meals and water to lay their eggs.
Look For Professional Mosquito Yard Treatments That Work
While you might be trying to combat mosquitoes, you might feel like they are taking over your life.
You don’t have to feel that way.
Hiring a professional mosquito control company can give you your summer evenings back.
Turf’s Up would love to help! We know how to keep these pests away so you can embrace your evenings outdoors again.
Ready to learn why Turf’s Up could be your totally awesome choice for getting rid of mosquitos in your yard in Northern Virginia? We’re stoked to learn more about you and help you eliminate your mosquito problem once and for all. Get started today with a free quote. Together, we can prepare a customized plan that is perfect for you and your yard.
