Question:
i know not technically repair...
but with mosquito (and thus West Nile virus) season upon us I am
wondering if anyone has any recommendations of plants that might
discourage mosquitos or other bugs around the yard.
we live in brooklyn and are carefull not to leave any standing water in
the yard. I'd like to be able to go to the yard and have a young child
- last year was terrible though. some days too many bugs to be outside.
other options might be kid friendly candle repellants?
is there another group i should post to?
Answer:
-I should follow up that I am looking for organic / plant solutions (no
DEET) because there are children involved.
If anyone has experience with Thai lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus),
I've read one web story that endorses it, and whether it grows outside
in NYC (Brooklyn) and if I can still plant it now (from seed or full grown?)
Same question for catnip - will it grow in NYC, from plant or seed and
starting now?
-YOu can try this for the plants. Some say they work and some say they
don't.
http://www.rushindustries.com/rmp2.html?ROITrakid=1673
You may also want to post in alt.home. lawn garden
-I work for a county mosquito abatement district in California and thus
am exposed to a lot of information about mosquitoes and what
kills/repels them. While there may be plants that mosquitoes find
objectionable I can say that the numbers in which mosquitoes breed it
would be very improbable that any plant would repel all the mosquitoes
in the area if there are breeding sources nearby. Some species of
mosquitoes will fly great distances to seek out a blood meal so while
you may not have any standing water in your yard if the neighbors have
buckets/ponds/etc. in their yard then you will get some of their
mosquitoes. Also- things like storm drains in the street that may hold
water can be huge producers of mosquitoes. Some people have success
with citronella candles but my personal experience is that they don't
work all that well. If you are opposed to using DEET based repellents
then you might try Cutter Advanced which uses picardin as the active
ingredient. I don't work for Cutter but have tried this product and
have had good success with it. Many breeds of mosquitoes are dusk/dawn
biters and rest during the day in cooler/shady/damp places so if you
have a lot of vegetation on your property the mosquitoes in the area
may chose to use it as their resting place. I would contact the local
mosquito abatement agency or health department and ask them about
possible assistance that they may provide to eliminate the mosquitoes
at the source. We use a biological pesticide (BTI) to treat the
majority of the breeding sources in our area. It is toxic specifically
to mosquito and black fly larva
