Houseworks: Organic ways to keep mosquitoes away

Mosquito troubles around house and cottage can be greatly reduced with landscape management strategies that discourage this seasonal scourge. Photo by Vecteezy 

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When my daughter and son-in-law moved their family to a country property in July 2023, the place had been empty long enough for the grass to grow into something more like a hayfield than a lawn. The mosquitoes were unbelievable. I’d never seen anything like it, even after living in the country for 40 years. Step outside and they homed in on you with a vengeance. Try to sit on the deck and the evening was over before it began. Walk from the house to the vehicle and you were swatting all the way. 

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Start with the grass 

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The single biggest improvement came from one simple change: cutting the grass and keeping it cut short, including the little tufts around trees and the house. It didn’t eliminate mosquitoes completely, but it made the property much more livable. That experience confirmed something I’ve noticed many times. When mosquitoes are bad around a home, the wise approach isn’t one dramatic, toxic solution, but a collection of small improvements that make the place less inviting. 

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Long grass is always the first thing to tackle. Mosquitoes don’t only breed in water, they also rest in cool, damp, shaded places during the day. Tall grass, brushy fence lines, overgrown edges around sheds, and neglected corners of a yard all provide shelter. Keeping the main lawn cut, trimming around buildings and clearing heavy growth near sitting areas makes a real difference. This reduces tick pressure a lot, too. 

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Eliminate standing water 

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Mosquitoes need water to reproduce, and they don’t need much. A saucer under a flowerpot, an old tire, a child’s toy, a clogged eavestrough or a hollow in a tarp can become a breeding spot. After a rain, walk around and look for anything holding water. Tip it, drain it, store it upside down or get rid of it. 

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This homeopathic remedy is designed to discourage mosquitos and black flies from biting, and Maxwell finds it works. Photo by Steve Maxwell

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Clean eavestrough and fix drainage 

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A trough clogged with leaves and holding stagnant water will breed mosquitoes right above your head. Cleaning eavestroughs in spring and again after heavy leaf fall is good home maintenance anyway, and mosquito reduction is one more reason to do it. 

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Drainage around your house matters as well, as well as low spots in lawns, poorly graded areas beside buildings and compacted soil can all hold water after rain. Sometimes the fix is as simple as filling a depression with topsoil and seed. Larger drainage problems may need swales, gravel, ditching or better grading, but even modest improvements help surprisingly well. 

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Around porches and sitting areas, increasing airflow is surprisingly effective. Mosquitoes are weak fliers. So trimming back bushes and shrubs can make a big difference. Even a room fan on a deck can drive back the hordes quite well, making the area much more comfortable without spraying anything. It doesn’t have to be fancy; it just needs to move air across the place where people sit. 

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Screen maintenance 

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Window and door screens are another old-fashioned solution that still matters for indoor mosquitos. Holes in screens or even a poorly adjusted screen door can let in more mosquitoes in five minutes than you’ll want to deal with all evening. I like self-adhesive window screen patches to repair small holes.