Wooded areas hold water in places an open lawn never would. Shade slows evaporation, and natural depressions and tree holes collect rainwater that lingers for weeks so mosquitoes have plenty of places to breed unhindered.
You may have noticed that the mosquitoes love the edge of your property, and for that, you can blame standing water. The conditions under a tree canopy are built to keep water around, and that’s what mosquitoes need to breed.
Shade makes it harder for water to evaporate. Open lawns dry out within a day or two of rain thanks to the sun and the wind. Under a canopy, that water sits in cool shade and evaporates slowly, sometimes lasting long enough for a full mosquito generation to develop.
Leaf litter only compounds the issue. Fallen leaves dam up the natural flow of water across the forest floor, and it just sits there in shallow pools. Mosquitoes lay their eggs there.
There are also, in the woods, features you wouldn’t have in a lawn. There are vernal pools and low woodland hollows that fill each spring and hold water for weeks. Rot pockets and holes in old trees collect rainwater. Even clogged drainage channels or old stump cavities can do the job.
The mosquitoes that come out of these areas also tend to be aggressive shade-loving biters. They are content to rest in the cool understory and feed on anyone who walks the property line during the day. So the wooded zone produces them and shelters them at the same time.
Of course, you can’t drain the woods. You shouldn’t try. What you can do, however, is defend the boundary of your yard so mosquitoes won’t bug you where you spend your time.
If you're tired of the tree line pumping mosquitoes into your yard, Mosquito Squad of Southwest and South Central Michigan can help. This can be done through treating the wooded edges and shaded resting zones where these mosquitoes gather, helping protect your yard with up to 90% reduction in mosquito activity on a recurring 21-day cycle.
