11 Natural Mosquito Control Tips For Your Yard

Figuring out how to repel mosquitoes in backyards and other outdoor venues is always a challenge, especially if you want to avoid using chemicals that could hurt children, pets or grass and plants.

Fortunately, there are a number of solutions that have at least some effect. They may not get rid of every single mosquito, but they can make a big difference.

The Importance Mosquito Control

Mosquitos aren’t just nuisances. They carry some bad pathogens for humans and possibly pets, and they’re going global. West Nile is now in the US, for example – not from travelers bringing it home, but from mosquitos right here.

Diseases Carried by Mosquitos

West Nile Virus: This virus can cause mild flu-like symptoms but can also lead to severe neurological diseases. It’s primarily spread by the common house mosquito.
Zika Virus: Zika can cause birth defects when pregnant women become infected. While most people experience mild symptoms, the potential for severe outcomes makes it a health concern.
Dengue Fever: Transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, dengue fever can cause high fever, severe headaches, joint and muscle pain, and in extreme cases, life-threatening complications such as dengue hemorrhagic fever.
Chikungunya: Similar to dengue, chikungunya is characterized by fever and severe joint pain. While it’s rarely fatal, the joint pain can last for months or even years, significantly impacting quality of life.
Malaria: This is a serious and sometimes fatal disease caused by parasites transmitted through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. It’s still a global health issue, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

Natural vs. Chemical Repellents

First, let’s just state the obvious. There’s no question that DEET is pretty effective, and some people claim it’s quite safe to use – provided you follow a fairly intimidating set of instructions on how to use it.

But even if you’re perfectly comfortable using DEET, it’s only designed to be applied to the skin. It won’t keep mosquitoes from buzzing around you – or from biting guests who didn’t wear a repellant and don’t want to use yours.

How, then, can you minimize, if not eliminate, the number of mosquitoes annoying and possibly infecting you and your guests or friends in an outdoor setting?

Picaridin, the Effective DEET Alternative

There’s a relatively new chemical repellent for skin called Picaridin. While it’s not “natural”, it’s just as effective as DEET without some of the worrying effects like melting plastic.

If you want to be absolutely sure to avoid mosquitoes and/or ticks getting on your skin, products like Picaridin Lotion can be a good option. You can also get picaridin spray you can apply to skin, clothes, gear, etc.

Now onto the things you can do that don’t require sprays.

Quick Note on Effectiveness

You may have tried some of these solutions and found they didn’t work. I’ve read a lot of online recommendations and reviews and forum discussions over the years to figure out what works.

The problem is that some people claim great success with a certain solution, but others find the same method ineffective. My guess is that some of these solutions may actually work on some mosquitoes in some certain conditions, but different species of mosquitoes or different conditions render them useless.

So it can take some trial and error to find what’s going to work for your home.

10 Natural Mosquito Repellents for Your Backyard

First, do what you can to avoid attracting mosquitoes in the first place. Mosquitos thrive in moist, humid environments and breed in standing water.

This is why you’re more likely to encounter them around ponds, birdbaths, clogged gutters, and other areas where water collects. Eliminating these breeding grounds is one of the simplest ways to reduce the mosquito population in your backyard.

1. Plant Mosquito-Repelling Herbs and Flowers

One of the easiest and most attractive ways to deter mosquitos is by strategically planting certain herbs and flowers around your backyard. These plants contain compounds that mosquitos find repulsive or even toxic.

Citronella – These plants release a strong, lemony scent that masks the carbon dioxide and other attractants that draw mosquitos to people.
Lavender – The scent repels mosquitos and many other insects. Planting lavender around seating areas or walkways can create a natural barrier.
Peppermint – The strong, minty scent is another mosquito deterrent. Crush the leaves to release more of the essential oils when you’re outside.
Marigolds – These bright, cheerful flowers contain pyrethrum, a natural insecticide that can help control mosquito populations.
Catnip – It contains nepetalactone, which repels mosquitos and other biting insects.

Be sure to place these plants in strategic locations around your yard, such as close to seating areas, walkways, or around the perimeter. The more concentrated the scents, the more effective they’ll be at keeping mosquitos at bay.

2. Use Essential Oils

Essential oils from plants are another natural mosquito repellent. Many of these extracts contain compounds that interfere with the insects’ ability to detect human scents and carbon dioxide, making you less attractive to them.

Lemongrass oil
Peppermint oil
Eucalyptus oil
Thyme oil
Clove oil – Clove oil contains eugenol, a compound that mosquitos find unpalatable.

You can add a few drops to a diffuser or spray bottle filled with water and mist the area. You can also soak cotton balls in the oils and place them in key locations.

3. Make a Mosquito Trap

This DIY mosquito trap design involves using a plastic bottle, sugar, yeast, and water. The sugar and yeast create carbon dioxide, which attracts mosquitos. As they fly into the trap, they become stuck on the interior walls and eventually drown.

To make your mosquito trap:

Cut the top off a 2-liter plastic bottle, about 6 inches down from the neck.
Mix 1 cup of warm water, 1/4 cup of brown sugar, and 1 teaspoon of active dry yeast in the bottom of the bottle.
Invert the top portion of the bottle and place it inside the bottom section, creating a funnel.
Place the trap in an area of your yard that’s known to have a high mosquito population, and let the carbon dioxide-producing mixture do its work.

Empty and refill the trap every few days to maintain its effectiveness. You can also try adding a bit of apple cider vinegar or fruit juice to the mixture to make it even more enticing to mosquitos.

4. Introduce Natural Mosquito Predators

Another effective way to reduce mosquito populations in your backyard is by attracting their natural predators. Certain birds, bats, dragonflies, and even some fish and amphibians feed on mosquitos, helping to naturally control their numbers.

Bat House

You can buy a bat house inexpensively. This is a little box you mount in the fall or winter within a few hundred yards of a stream, river or pool.

By summer, with some luck, you’ll have bats living in it, and each bat can eat several hundred mosquitoes. Getting this started can take some tinkering. You may not attract bats immediately, and find you need to change the placement of your box.

But there’s no question that bats eat mosquitoes, so if you manage to get them coming around your home, they will drastically reduce, if not eliminate, your mosquitoes.

Since bats naturally prey on mosquitoes and won’t hurt other creatures or your plants, this is probably the most effective natural way to repel mosquitoes. And you won’t have bats buzzing your head in the evenings or anything – they prefer to avoid humans whenever possible.

Other Mosquito Predators

If the bat house route isn’t what you want, consider the following:

Install a birdhouse or two to attract insect-eating birds like purple martins, swallows, and wrens.
Create a small pond or water feature to attract dragonflies, whose larvae feed on mosquito larvae.
Consider adding some fish, like mosquito fish or guppies, to any existing ponds or water features to help control mosquito breeding.
Provide habitat for frogs and toads, which are also voracious mosquito eaters.

5. Use Mosquito Repelling Candles or Torches

Mosquito-repelling candles and torches are another easy, low-maintenance way to keep mosquitoes away. These products typically contain citronella oil, which masks human scents and repels mosquitos.

Put them around the perimeter of your seating or entertaining areas. This creates a protective barrier that mosquitos will be less likely to cross.

You can also try making your own candles by mixing citronella oil with beeswax or soy wax. Get creative by adding other essential oils like lemongrass or peppermint for an extra mosquito-deterring boost.

6. Maintain Your Yard and Garden

Getting rid of standing water eliminates their breeding grounds and keeps the mosquito population down around your home. Look for stagnant water around:

Clogged gutters
Bird baths
Flower pots and planters
Tire swings
Kiddie pools

Mosquitos only need a small amount of stagnant water to lay their eggs, so empty or treat any areas where water collects.

And keep your grass, shrubs, and other vegetation well-trimmed. Overgrown, unkempt landscaping provides the perfect hiding and resting spots for mosquitos.

Keep your lawn trimmed and dry. Standing water and tall grass or weeds attract mosquitoes and other insects.

Clean your gutters, eavestroughs and anything else that might let water pool or stand.

Landscape your yard to avoid puddles. If your yard tends to collect puddles in certain areas, a little bit of landscaping will change that forever. You need to add soil to level out the depressed areas where the puddles collect, and then create a slope at the front or back of the yard for water to run off.

While you can hire a contractor for a big job, you can easily just fill in depressions with some top soil, put down some grass seed, and make sure it gets water daily until the seed starts growing.

7. Install Fans or Use a Mister

Mosquitos are not fond of wind or moving air, so installing fans or using a misting system in your backyard can be an effective way to deter them while you’re outside.

Strategically placed outdoor fans can create gentle breezes that make it difficult for mosquitos to fly and land. Position the fans around seating areas, decks, or patios to keep the air moving and make your yard less hospitable for the insects.

Misting systems work on a similar principle. These backyard cooling systems release a fine mist of water into the air, creating an unfavorable environment for mosquitos. The mist helps lower the temperature and increases air movement, making it harder for the bugs to navigate and feed.

Both fans and misting systems can be especially helpful in more enclosed or sheltered outdoor spaces, where mosquitos tend to congregate.

8. Try Natural Mosquito Repellent Sprays

While essential oils and DIY mosquito traps are great options, you can also purchase ready-made natural mosquito repellent sprays to use around your backyard. These sprays typically contain a blend of essential oils and other plant-based ingredients that are effective at keeping mosquitos at bay.

Some of the most common natural mosquito repellent ingredients include:

Lemongrass oil
Peppermint oil
Citronella oil
Geranium oil
Rosemary oil

Look for DEET-free sprays that are made with all-natural, non-toxic formulas. Apply them to surfaces like patio furniture too, to create a protective barrier against mosquitos.

9. Build a Mosquito-Repelling Fire Pit or Chiminea

Another clever way to keep mosquitos away from your backyard is by adding a fire pit or chiminea into your outdoor living space. The smoke and heat produced by these features can act as a natural mosquito deterrent.

Use fragrant, mosquito-repelling woods like cedar or sandalwood. As the fire burns, the smoke and aroma will help mask human scents and drive mosquitos away from the area.

You can also add mosquito-repelling herbs and essential oils to the fire to boost its insect-repelling power. Toss a few sprigs of rosemary, thyme, or lavender onto the flames, or soak some cotton balls in citronella oil and place them near the fire.

Just be sure to follow all necessary safety precautions when using any outdoor fire feature.

10. Backyard Fogging

As a last resort, you may want to consider having your backyard professionally fogged to temporarily eliminate mosquitos. This involves using a specialized machine to disperse a fine mist of insecticide or natural pyrethrin-based solution over your entire yard.

Backyard fogging can provide quick, effective relief from mosquitos, but it’s important to understand the potential downsides. The chemicals used, even natural ones, can be harmful to beneficial insects, pets, and even humans if not applied properly.

It’s also a temporary solution. Mosquitos will eventually return once the effects wear off.

If you do decide to go the fogging route, be sure to work with a reputable pest control company that uses eco-friendly, low-toxicity products. Ask them about the ingredients and safety precautions, and time the fogging to minimize disruption to your outdoor activities.

11. Avoid Bug zappers?

You might think you should install bug zappers, but there are two problems. First, mosquitoes don’t find light attractive. Second, bug zappers they destroy beneficial insects who might, ironically, keep your mosquito population down.