It’s that time of year again: the time when we’re eager to get outside to make our yards look beautiful, but we dread the incoming mosquitoes. Did you know, though, that a little bit of savvy gardening can actually help keep mosquitoes away from your home?

These days, many people are searching for natural ways to combat bugs. Arguably, the most effective way to avoid having bugs in or around your home is to repel them from entering in the first place. Planting a strategic garden full of strong-smelling, foul-tasting (to bugs) plants can make your house less attractive to mosquitoes, and thus reduce the number of these annoying pests invading your yard.

Add these plants to your garden to help naturally repel mosquitoes:

• Citronella: Commonly used in natural mosquito repellent and candles, this lush grass smells like lemons.


• Horsemint/Beebalm: Best in sandy, dry soils, this fragrant plant repels insects while attracting the bugs you actually want in a garden, like bees and butterflies.


• Marigolds: A pop of bright yellow beauty in your garden, these flowers contain pyrethrum, a common ingredient in mosquito repellent.


• Flossflowers/Ageratum: These lovely blue, purple or pink flowers grow low to the ground, repelling mosquitoes by secreting coumarin, another ingredient used in bug repellent.


• Catnip/Catmint: Researchers at Iowa State found this easy-to-grow member of the mint family to be 10x more effective than DEET at combating mosquitoes.


• Fragrant Herbs: The strong odors of rosemary, basil and lavender might smell great to humans, but insects avoid them.

While these plants can all help keep mosquitoes out of your garden and yard, they may not do the job completely. If you find yourself avoiding the outdoors because of bugs, scratching incessantly after sitting on the porch, or feeling wary of mosquitoes and the diseases they carry, contact the professional exterminators at Thompson Brothers Exterminating. We’ll treat your lawn and home to keep mosquitoes away, leaving you free to truly enjoy the yard you’ve worked so hard to beautify.

Start off spring with a bug-free yard. Contact Thompson Brothers today.