The summer months are the time to enjoy being outdoors and spending time with your family in the backyard. But if you have a mosquito infestation, no one will want to go outside, since the bites can be hard to deal with. Use the following tips to help prevent mosquitoes in your yard this summer:

Eliminate Standing Water

Mosquitoes need standing water in order to reproduce, so eliminating water sources can make your backyard much less attractive to these nasty pests. During the summer months, make sure to empty small kiddie pools daily, and make sure that rain water does not fill up in bird baths, buckets, clogged gutters, or outdoor ponds.

Utilize Plants that Repel Mosquitoes

Mosquitoes may seem to be everywhere during the summer, but it is possible to repel them from your yard if you utilize the right plants. Marigolds, citronella, catnip, lavender, basil, and lemon balm are known for keeping mosquitoes away. Place these plants in your garden or put them in pots to help keep mosquitoes away during the summer months.

Keep Up On Yard Work

An overgrown lawn or overgrown plants and shrubs can provide the ideal area for mosquitoes to reproduce. If you don't have the time to do yard work, make sure that you hire a landscaping company to keep plants trimmed properly. It is also important to monitor how much you water your yard to ensure that their are not puddles or stagnant pools of water that provide the ideal place for mosquitoes to reproduce.

Use Candles

When you want to enjoy time outdoors in your backyard and patio, don't forget to light several citronella candles. These candles are formulated from the citronella plant, and they can be a great at deterring mosquitoes and other bugs that do not like the fragrance of citronella. It is a good idea to place citronella candles around the perimeter of the area of the yard that you will be using.

Contact a Pest Control Company

When you have a serious mosquito problem, you need to call in the professionals. A pest control company has a variety of ways to control mosquitoes in a yard. Proper management techniques will help ensure that you can enjoy spending time outside on your property without having to endure mosquito bites. If you have a serious mosquito infestation, your yard may need to be fogged with pesticides, but you should be able to enjoy the area several hours later.