minimalism pond
Mosquitoes can quickly turn a nice, relaxing time spent outdoors into a frustrating and painful experience. This is especially true when you have some type of water feature in your yard. Unfortunately, ponds and lakes of all sizes create the ideal breeding ground for these blood sucking pests. But that doesn’t mean you have to avoid the great outdoors. The following tips show you how you can take back your landscape and keep mosquitoes at bay.
Add Some Fish
Introducing insect-eating fish, such as goldfish and guppies, is a great way to control the mosquito population on your property. The mosquitofish is another option that works wonders as a control method. Some counties even provide mosquitofish free of charge to residents with manmade ponds. You can also place tadpoles in your pond or lake to help control mosquitoes. These tadpoles will feast on the mosquito larvae and grow into frogs, which consume mosquitoes.
Entice Wildlife onto your Property
Adding purple martins nesting sites and bat houses throughout your property will go a long way to keeping the number of mosquitoes low. Purple martins and bats feed on various insects, such as mosquitoes, to naturally control them. A bonus to enticing wildlife to your property is that you will get to see them interact with nature.
Preventive Measures
One of the best ways to keep mosquitoes at bay is to get standing water moving. Mosquitoes rely on standing water, such as in ponds and lakes, for their larva, which cannot survive in flowing water. Installing aeration pumps for lakes and ponds will keep mosquitoes at bay, as well as benefit any aquatic wildlife that is living in the water.
Fight them with Bacteria
Avoid pesticides and instead use mosquito dunks that contain Bti israeliensis, which is a bacteria that targets mosquito larvae. This bacteria isn’t harmful to any other wildlife or aquatic organisms, nor is it toxic to humans or pets. It also doesn’t pollute the environment, making it a safer choice than chemical pesticides.