Nothing can ruin a great time in the backyard or an outing with the family faster than these little pests, so what to do? There's Yard Guard which only lasts just a little while that is if the wind isn't blowing and isn't exactly cheap. Then there is spray or rub on protection which is not only inconvenient but needs to be washed off at the end of the day, plus if you miss a spot you will sure find out about that in quick order and with kids running in and out the door to go play outside (that is if they aren't playing Nintendo) you have to keep them sprayed up. Tiki torches of which you need a couple of hundred to cover any size area at all and the mess of keeping them filled along with the same hit and miss coverage.
All of these work to varying degrees but what about the times you just want to sit out on the porch for a little while in the evening, what a ritual you have to go through, so you just stay inside while the pests have run of the place. Well living out in the country I have these little buggers a plenty and I tried it all which I'm sure you have too. Making the many trips to the lawn and garden shops in search of the solution to end all of this I tripped across a product that proved truly effective but alas the originator of the product so I found out could not work and play well with others and the product is no longer available.
Being the innovative guy that I am and with a wooded area behind my house that I cleared so that I could enjoy it I was constantly being run off by this unwanted bunch of Gods little creatures. Well here's the solution that has been tested and tried and works the best of all.
Citronella Oil with a twist, that's right same stuff you use in your Tiki torches, which you can get pretty much any where and a gallon costs about $6. It is water soluble so put it in a hose sprayer and set it at 3 or 4 oz. to the gallon and spray the yard, trees and shrubs paying paticular attention to the grass as mosquitoes and flies tend to fly close to the ground. When I first tested this I tried an area that if the effects were bad it was ok. Well as it turned out the grass and trees were unaffected and the spray left no oily residue on chairs or the house. Within minutes you could not even tell that I had sprayed but here's the best part (so long as it isn't pouring down rain) the effects of the spray lasts about a month! I spray a very large area about 1/5 acre and it cost me $3.
The added bonus is flies and gnats don't like it either.
When we go to an outdoor event we take a hand spray bottle with us with a slightly stronger solution and spray the area around us. This keeps the area clear and I will usually offer it to my nearby neighbors to spray their area as well as it helps them out but with you in the center it increases your protection as well.
Due to my location the number of these little lovelies is so large a tiny amount of them get through but by and large it has proven effective every time I have tried it so see if it works as well for you as it has for me and start enjoying that yard again!
