Enjoying your outdoor spaces – without bugs

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Published Date 5/15/2024

Mosquitoes and flies and wasps — oh my! Apart from some neighbor booming music of the variety you hate, there are few things more annoying than swatting bugs in your backyard as you try to celebrate the moments of your life.

Realtor.com’s Cambria Bold suggests a few smart products and a bit of thoughtful planning to encourage those winged nuisances to bug off. First off, standing water is your enemy — rule #1 in backyard mosquito population control. Standing water is a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Bird baths, planters, wagons, kiddie pools, and uncovered rain barrels are all invitations to the tiny insects that bite. Also think of puddles in the shade or around drainage sites.

Got a lot of foliage in your yard? Then treat your bushes as well as dense foliage with insect repellent. Bold says she has friends who’ve used the Terminix Mosquito Bait & Kill insect repellent on their backyard foliage with huge success. “Mosquitoes are not only attracted to standing water, but they also like to breed in dense foliage. Try an insect repellent like this one on the leaves of your plants and bushes. Reportedly within two to three weeks, you should see a 90% mosquito reduction in your backyard that’ll last about a month—and the spray is non-toxic to humans and pets too,” she says.

Bold discovered an oddity in her search for insect repellent: one that smells good. “Last summer, I discovered a surprisingly effective—and pleasant!—insect repellent in the Madison James Flyaway Sticks. They’re made of Texas cedar, geranium, and clove, and work like any regular incense stick. In this case, light a few, blow them out, then stick them in the ground or in planters around your backyard about 10 feet apart from each other. They’ll let off a gentle stream of fragrant smoke that smells lovely, but more importantly, actually works to keep all bugs away, including horseflies, hornets, and mosquitoes.”

Not into scents? Bold directs you to a top electronic Amazon pick: Thermacell Patio Shield Mosquito Repellent. “It feels a bit like magic,” Bold says. “To repel mosquitoes, the heat-activated battery in the device warms up a scent-free, DEET-free repellent made of allethrin, a synthetic chemical similar to the naturally-occurring insect repellent found in chrysanthemums. When it’s released into the air, it creates a 20-foot zone of protection. I have two of these Thermacell devices, and I can confirm that they really do work.”

She goes on to refer to them as “stealth operators”—powerful, portable, and protective. A single charge offers five and a half hours of use. “Just be sure to keep them away from any open flames like barbecues, fire pits, or smokers as the repellent is flammable.” She adds, however, that they are toxic to bees, so be aware.

Sometimes you just don’t want to deal with any of it. If that’s the case, opt for a pop-up portable screen house tent if you don’t already have a screened-in porch. One offered by Alvantor comes in a variety of sizes and prices ranging from $119 for a 6×6 tent to $399 for a 15×15 tent. The pop-up screen tents shield both from mosquitoes and other pests, as well as provide UPF 50+ UV sun protection. Bold adds, “Set one up in your backyard around a few lounge chairs or a dining table, and enjoy the feel of being outside without any bugs bothering you!

Realtor, TBWS

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