Is it worth having yard sprayed for mosquitoes?

[jambo101]

Do you really think spraying pesticides all over your backyard is a better solution than just wearing appropriate clothing in the few weeks that mosquitoes are at their worst,most people up here in cottage country just dont plan much outdoor activities around this time of the year,In a couple of weeks the worst will be over..

[NYmama2dallas]

Originally Posted by jambo101

Do you really think spraying pesticides all over your backyard is a better solution than just wearing appropriate clothing in the few weeks that mosquitoes are at their worst,most people up here in cottage country just dont plan much outdoor activities around this time of the year,In a couple of weeks the worst will be over..

Seriously? Our yard in Arlington is already swarming with the usual DC nighttime mosquitoes and those hideous imported East Asian daytime mosquitoes. We had bad mosquitoes last year from May-end of Sept. IMO, it makes the yard unusable--we have small children and I do not want to swath them in DEET. We are looking into spraying this year too.

[jambo101]

As said before if you cant spray all the neighboring properties its a pointless exercise as the bugs will just fly back in when the spraying is over.
And you apply Deet to the clothing not the actual skin..

[Melbourne Family]

Originally Posted by jambo101

Do you really think spraying pesticides all over your backyard is a better solution than just wearing appropriate clothing in the few weeks that mosquitoes are at their worst,most people up here in cottage country just dont plan much outdoor activities around this time of the year,In a couple of weeks the worst will be over..

I really don't want to spray pesticides all over the yard but I also don't want my little one to suffer like she did last year with bites all over her little face despite covering her up as best we could. Keeping her indoors sounds like a great solution but try telling a 3 year old she can't play outside for weeks on end, not as easy at it sounds.

[srahx]

We had our yard sprayed 3 or 4 times a summer (about every 4 weeks) when I lived in the St. Louis metro area and we did notice a significant difference for ourselves and our dogs. I haven't found the same type of service here in NoVA - I called around last summer and they were very high priced and only sprayed once. We did buy some granules that we used in the yard and to me that was less offensive than putting deet all over ourselves. With all of the rain we've had, I can't imagine that the bug problem is going to get better. Right now, the gnats are horrible and I have no idea how to get rid of them. I think the ants are going to be the next problem with the wet ground from the rain.

I have a toddler as well who loves to be outside and in the end, I spray her w/OFF and make sure to bathe her afterwards so she is not wearing it all day long. I have tried the spray w/the Picardin (sp?) but that doesn't seem to work for us. I know people w/the propane tanks and they swear by them. I also make sure that I use Frontline on my dogs. We have a lot of deer around where I live which means a lot of ticks. Many neighbors have contracted lymes disease so I am all about spraying ourselves and using stuff in the yard.

I might go to Merrifield and find that mosquito granule someone else mentioned on here. How often does that need to be reapplied?

[statecollege]

Originally Posted by Denton56

You might want to put up a few Purple Martin bird houses. They LOVE bugs and eat hundreds a day. Other birds do too. Encourage birds to nest around your house and you will have fewer bugs of all kinds.

Also install bat houses. I've forgotten stats on their bug appetite, but I believe they eat more than their weight in bugs every evening.

[jambo101]

Originally Posted by srahx

We had our yard sprayed 3 or 4 times a summer (about every 4 weeks) when I lived in the St. Louis metro area and we did notice a significant difference for ourselves and our dogs. I haven't found the same type of service here in NoVA - I called around last summer and they were very high priced and only sprayed once. We did buy some granules that we used in the yard and to me that was less offensive than putting deet all over ourselves. With all of the rain we've had, I can't imagine that the bug problem is going to get better. Right now, the gnats are horrible and I have no idea how to get rid of them. I think the ants are going to be the next problem with the wet ground from the rain.

I have a toddler as well who loves to be outside and in the end, I spray her w/OFF and make sure to bathe her afterwards so she is not wearing it all day long. I have tried the spray w/the Picardin (sp?) but that doesn't seem to work for us. I know people w/the propane tanks and they swear by them. I also make sure that I use Frontline on my dogs. We have a lot of deer around where I live which means a lot of ticks. Many neighbors have contracted lymes disease so I am all about spraying ourselves and using stuff in the yard.



I might go to Merrifield and find that mosquito granule someone else mentioned on here. How often does that need to be reapplied?

With your aversion to bugs and the many chemicals you are using to combat the issue i'm worried that sooner or later you might have an accident with these various poisons and may cause harm to your pets and/or your children.
Is this bug problem something new in your life? what have you done in the past to cope with the issue?

[coolio69]

I find that the only thing that works for me is Deepwoods off. The regular orange off doesnt do it. However, it makes you feel really sticky when you get back inside.

I complained to some Arlington county officials and they said that they couldn't spray because it was unsafe. I don't know if they were trying to give me the run around or maybe it was too costly to implement.

Man, I remember seeing the pickup trucks when I was a kid spraying the white smoke. Now, that kinda stuff would be outlawed by the EPA.

[FCNova]

Mod cut: Refers to a deleted spam post.

The skeeters around here are annoying. I try to avoid harsh chemical sprays because I have young kids. I heard some guy on the radio last year discussing this issue and said a good alternative to chemicals is douse your yard in garlic spray, which I guess you can buy at certain places. I may try it this year, especially since I love Italian food.