A good backyard mosquito treatment targets the shaded foliage where mosquitoes rest during the day. It keeps working for about three weeks after application, and gets reapplied before it fades.
Plenty of yard sprays smell like they work, and then they don’t. The good ones share a few things in common. It’s worth knowing what to look for before you spend money treating your yard.
Where you treat for mosquitoes matters more than you might think. It’s tempting to treat mosquitoes where you see them flying, but this doesn’t work very well. Instead, it’s better to treat where mosquitoes rest, because that’s what they spend most of their time doing. They hide under leaves, deep in ivy, on the damp side of fences, and other places like that so that the heat of the day doesn’t dry them out. Good treatments are applied to these surfaces. When mosquitoes land on treated surfaces, they are knocked down.
The treatment should keep working for a while. A quality barrier application knocks down whatever's present, then binds to the leaves and keeps dropping mosquitoes that land there over the next three weeks or so. Without it, you’ll enjoy a quiet weekend, but the problem will be back within a few days.
Then there's the schedule. Mosquito populations rebuild quickly, a week of eggs becomes a month of misery, so reapplication needs to happen right as the last round fades. Treating every three weeks keeps the treatment effective and the mosquito populations suppressed.
Should you decide to bring in a professional, look for one that uses EPA-registered products, applied at the label rate. Good technicians also walk the property before treating so they can figure out where the most problematic areas are first. And reputable providers also offer satisfaction guarantees and promise to come back if you experience pest trouble shortly after treatment. No treatment takes the mosquito population down to zero, but a good one should cut down on them by up to 90%.
If your current spray keeps quitting on you by midweek, Mosquito Squad of Southern Westchester & Rockland County can help. Mosquito Squad puts EPA-registered barrier treatment on the resting areas where mosquitoes hide, helping protect your yard with up to 90% reduction in mosquito activity on a recurring 21-day cycle.
