Whether you’ve already thrown a cookout yourself or you have a handful of barbeques to attend in the weekends ahead, nothing can spoil an outdoor get-together like mosquitoes. The last thing you want to deal with while enjoying a burger with family and friends is the swarm of these painful little pests invading your backyard. Bugs are inevitable outdoors, but there are certainly tips and steps you can take to help minimize their presence in your surroundings and prevent them from significantly populating. Mosquitoes, for instance, thrive and breed in water, so eliminating any unnecessary wet or damp areas can help immensely:
- Check your gutters and keep them clean, preventing any built up dirt and leaves that can gather and allow for pools of water to remain after rain.
- Scope out your lawn after rain to see if there are any areas that are not draining well and keep large puddles from drying out.
- Keep your pool chlorinated, clean and covered when you are not home.
- Dump and swap out water in any outdoor structures or containers about twice per week (bird baths, garden decorations, garage cans, pet bowls, etc.).
- Make sure your property is clean of any trash or junk that water can gather in (plus, garbage shouldn’t be in your yard anyway!). Soda cans or bottles, plastic planting pots forgotten about, even a flat soccer ball can create an opportunity for water to gather and attract these invaders.
