garden pond
Garden ponds add interest and charm to landscapes, but without proper care they can become breeding places for mosquitoes. Does this Spark an idea?
What Mosquitoes Like
Mosquitoes seek calm, shallow, sheltered water to lay their eggs. It takes 10 days for larvae to develop into mosquitoes.
Construction
To avoid attracting mosquitoes, no more than 10 percent to 20 percent of the surface should be shallow (6 inches or less). A fountain or waterfall and good water circulation will help to disturb the water and minimize the still surfaces mosquitoes prefer.
Plants
Plants that create protected areas will encourage mosquito breeding. Keep plants trimmed back from overhanging the water, and remove floating vegetation such as water hyacinth, duckweed and algae mats.
Predators
Frogs, larvae-feeding fish, bats, dragonflies and salamanders are natural mosquito predators. Creating a habitat that encourages them will help to control mosquitoes in an eco-friendly way. If you have fish in your pond, do not overfeed them to encourage them to feed on mosquito larvae.
Other Treatments
The bacteria bacillus thuringiensis is lethal to mosquito larvae. Other safe treatments that contain natural larvicides are Microbe-Lift, Mosquito Bits, Mosquito Dunks or Mosquito Larvicide & Repellent Granules.
Tags: larvae Other, mosquito larvae, mosquito larvae Other, will help