How to Keep Mosquitoes Away with DIY Yard Spray Recipes

Summertime brings warm weather and is the best season to enjoy time in your yard. From family barbecues to playing in the sprinklers, the one universal downside of all this good weather is that the insects like it, too. Mosquitoes in the yard are an unwanted side effect of a green lawn and shady trees in the summertime, but they don’t have to be.

There are several ways to get rid of mosquitoes, and not just by burning candles around the patio. You can discourage the growth and gathering of mosquitoes around your entire yard and favorite outdoor spaces. 

While professional pest services can keep the mosquitoes at bay for months, you can mix up a few homemade recipes in a spray bottle to reduce mosquitoes in your yard for a few days to clear the way for backyard events and safe outdoor play. 

Homemade Recipes for Yard Mosquito Repellent

Most insects can be fought with common household products if you know what to use. For example, did you know that soapy water in a spray bottle can hold back wasps in an emergency? 

When fighting mosquitoes, the goal is to use smells that mosquitoes don’t like and eliminate the places where mosquitoes breed and gather in the yard. Mosquitoes like many of the same conditions we do – lush well-watered grass, shady overhanging branches, and backyard ponds. They breed in hot standing water, whether this is the puddle by the downspout or the rain-filled back of your basketball goal. 

Fortunately, with a few strong-smelling kitchen supplies and a high-volume spray nozzle, you can temporarily mosquito-proof any outdoor space. 

Each of these homemade recipes is diluted with water and then distributed into the shady and moist areas throughout your yard and around the perimeter. By soaking every leaf and grass blade with discouraging smells, mosquitoes will go away and even breed somewhere else. 

Scents Mosquitoes Dislike

Mosquitoes dislike many types of strong scents, especially those associated with acids like vinegar and peppermint. Wearing or making products with these scents can help keep mosquitoes at bay.

• Citronella
• Peppermint
• Cedarwood
• Rosemary
• Geranium
• Basil
• Garlic
• Vinegar
• Sage
• Lavender
• Marigold
• Catnip
• Eucalyptus

Considering these scents, you might be surprised just what the top two mosquito yard spray recipes are made of.

 DIY Yard Mosquito Spray: Mouthwash and Stale Beer Repellent

Yes, you saw the heading correctly. That says mouthwash and beer. This is partly because both are highly acidic. Mouthwash is typically made with a strong peppermint flavor, while beer is mildly alcoholic, which is also no good for mosquitoes. By mixing the two, you come up with a sprayable concoction that mosquitoes will avoid for several days up to several weeks if the weather stays clear. 

How to Make It

• 16 oz bottle of peppermint mouthwash
• 3 cups Epsom salt
• 36 oz of cheap, stale beer

Combine the mouthwash, Epsom salt, and beer into a container and stir or shake until all the salt is dissolved. Then load spray bottles with the repellent recipe. The best spray bottles for mosquito-proofing your yard have a high-volume and wide-angle spray to thoroughly coat a large area of leaves and underbrush with each spray. If you have a garden spray kit, clean it carefully and then load the beer and mouthwash blend.

Quick and Easy Mosquito Spray: Apple Cider Vinegar Repellent

Mosquitoes also hate vinegar, especially apple cider vinegar. Apple cider vinegar is especially strong. It can be used medicinally for humans in small doses, and many insects won’t go anywhere near it. In fact, you want to dilute that vinegar before spraying it through your yard and the mosquitoes will still find a more hospitable yard.

How Its Made

• 2 cups apple cider vinegar
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 tsp bug-free essential oils

The trick to this mosquito repellent recipe is a chef’s choice of essential oils. Check the list of scents bugs hate and pick between one and five to combine into a “bug off blend” of oils. This blend can be used to create a variety of bug repellent supplies, including a yard treatment to protect your outdoor events. 

If you don’t have essential oils, pick up a multi-pack that includes peppermint and at least one other oil on the list. This will be easy to find in essential oil starter packs, and you’ll definitely find other uses for peppermint, lemon, or eucalyptus oil around the house.

Combine the ingredients in a spray bottle and shake well. Once again, a wide and high-volume spray is the best, up to twice the volume of your apple cider vinegar supply.

 How to Apply DIY Mosquito Repellent in the Yard

Take your DIY recipe spray bottle and cover the perimeter of your yard. Pay special attention to shady and especially moist areas in the yard. Spray low-hanging tree branches and the underside of bushes that create low cover.  Spray any areas with standing water or a tendency to gather puddles.

These DIY blends, like professional yard treatments, are safe for pets, children, and most of the wildlife you enjoy in your backyard. While bugs dislike apple cider vinegar, songbirds in the bushes and toddlers in the underbrush will be perfectly safe.

Benefits of Professionally Mosquito-Proofing Your Yard

If you need to get rid of mosquitoes quickly for one backyard event, DIY recipes do the job. However, if you want to enjoy your yard for the entire warm season without regularly shaking up mouthwash and beer, there are a few distinct benefits to having your backyard professionally sprayed.

Safe and Long-Lasting Yard Treatments

Professional mosquito treatment products are non-toxic, low-odor, and have a viscosity component that helps the treatment last longer in each treated area. Professional mosquito service can clear mosquitoes and ticks out of your yard for one to two months at a time, which means typically only two to three treatments to enjoy your yard every day of the mosquito season.

Trained Focus on Mosquito-Risk Areas

Where are all the places that mosquitoes can hide or breed around your yard? Your pest control professional knows. They can ensure that the mosquito treatment targets specific high-risk areas like underbrush and wood piles that have hidden, sheltered areas for insect life. Your mosquito technician will search and treat every place mosquitoes might stay.

Efficient Treatment with the Right Tools

Spraying your entire yard and every underbrush area with a spray bottle gives your trigger finger an exhaustive workout. It takes a while, and larger yards may require a few refills before the yard is fully treated. Your professional has sprayer equipment that can quickly treat acres of fence lines and tree clusters so that any backyard takes just a few minutes.

Get Rid of All Mosquitoes the First Time

When you go through the effort of mosquito-treating your yard, you want the job done. Professional pest control technicians will get to every area where mosquitoes can hide, ensuring that every mosquito is removed from your space before your outdoor plans begin. This ensures that kids and guests remain unbitten, even when they explore the shady, arboreal reaches of a verdant backyard design.

No Vinegar Smell

Lastly, you get the benefit of a commercially engineered smell. Mosquito repellent doesn’t smell like much to humans, which makes it a big improvement to the apple cider vinegar approach, and perhaps both of you are sensitive to the faint whiff of peppermint and stale beer on your lower shrubbery.

DIY and Professional Mosquito Repellent for Yards and Outdoor Spaces

Do you need to get rid of mosquitoes in y our yard? We know exactly what you’re dealing with. For an emergency or just one event, these homemade recipes are a useful solution. 

To keep your yard mosquito-free all season long, call Fit Turf to keep your turf fit for safe family play this summer.