Neepawa Press – June 10, 2015

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Living with Mosquitoes
By Mark Cullen
Mark Cullen appears on Canada AMevery Wednes
day morning at 8 40 He is the Lawn and Garden ex
pertfor Home Hardware Sign upfor hisfree monthly
newsletter at www markcullen com
I consider myself one of the lucky ones When a
mosquito sucks my blood they are a minor nuisance
but my skin does not react My wife on the other
hand is a member of the mosquitoes love me group
They particularly love her ankles How bout you
I understand our general dislike for mosquitoes but
I must defend them on the one hand by stating that
have properties that are useful in this regard but the
lemon scented citrosa geranium which is sometimes
called the mosquito geranium could be the most ef
fective of all
2 Basil
This is one of the few common herbs that
provide a pleasant fresh scent without the oils in the
leaves being activated The plant emits a hunger in
ducing smell all day long but mostly during the heat
of the day Place one in the middle of the table when
you next have a garden party Again it is the lemon
basil that works best And cinnamon
fall apart As an example the common tree and bam
3 Citronella Grass Cymbopogon nardus You
likely have a citronella candle stashed in the cupboard
ofyour laundry room or some other mysterious hiding
place The active ingredient in the candle is derived
swallow has been in decline for over a decade largely
from citronella grass and you can grow it in a sunny
due to the decline in mosquito and other flying in
sect population Ditto the brown bat Insectivores
everywhere are having trouble getting on and having
babies due to an increase in our ability to control one
of the most bothersome of pests mostly due to agri
spot in your garden or in containers on your patio
Technically it is a perennial but not so much in zone
without them a lot of our natural infrastructure would
cultural chemical use
Or so I am told
All of that said you may wish to create some space
between the mosquitoes in your neighbourhood and
your skin I am here to assist The following are
plants with repellent properties where mosquitoes are
concerned Grow them and enjoy the lack of scratch
ing
1 Geranium The common garden variety gera
nium is not well liked by mosquitoes Which is not to
say that if you sit next to a geranium the mosquitoes
will stay a healthy distance You have to activate the
oils in the leaves by removing one from the plant and
rubbing it vigorously on exposed skin All geraniums
6 and colder so treat it as an annual
Grow it near
your patio or places where you entertain to minimize
the mosquito population in your yard But don t cut it
and rub it on your skin as you would the geranium it
can irritate your skin and it causes an allergic reaction
in some people
4 Lavender
This is an exceptional landscape
plant The new introductions that I have trialed in my
garden in recent years bloom for a long time in the
first half of the gardening season Lavender seeds that
follow the flowers provide their own special odour re
minding me of my great aunt Rose who came to Can
ada from London England where they worshipped
lavender two generations ago Her house reeked of
the stuff
I treat lavender as an annual as it almost
always dies in my zone 5 garden It loves the sun and
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water
5 Ageratum
Such
an innocent looking little
border annual plant actu
ally detracts mosquitoes
Look for blue
red and
white at garden retailers
now
There is nothing
easier to grow in a hot
dry spot and it blooms
all summer Try some in
containers to get it close
to your entertainment
spaces
Who knew
Keep this off your skin
though it has a tendency
to cause a rash
6
Marigolds
common
The
French
mari
and mouths They fly at night when most of us are
sleeping but mosquitoes are most active
I recommend that you place some bat houses in tall
trees
A bat will reside no less than 7 meters above
the ground If you don t like the idea of bats living
in your yard ask your neighbour if you can put bat
houses in their trees
The bats will never know the
difference
Swallows Chimney swifts bam and tree swallows
are closely related and they are among my very favou
rite birds They dip and swirl around me as I cut the
lawn and walk through the meadow dipsy doodling
through the air picking up flying insects as they go
We need to encourage them at every opportunity
You can attract swallows to your yard if you put
out nesting boxes in the spring they are nesting right
now
Look for plans for blue bird boxes on my
website markcullen com and place them in an open
part of your yard about 2 meters high with the one
and half inch hole facing south or east out of the west
gold has been a popular
annual flowering plant
wind I have 27 nesting boxes and about 12 swallow
families arrive each spring to set up shop and have
since the Victorians dis
babies
covered that you really
Frogs and toads Once again I defend the lowly
amphibians of the garden We all need to rise to their
defence as they eat an amazing amount of insects in
cluding but not exclusively mosquitoes Add a water
feature to your garden and build an insect hotel They
can t kill them
Planted
around your vegetable
garden they deter a va
riety of common insect
pests including aphids
and white fly
They
also deter mosquitoes
Some people don t like
the smell of marigolds
These people no doubt
2 / 3
I love them
will come the insects and toads most certainly and
the frogs will arrive when you have installed a still
water pond
Green Strike This is a unique innovation from a
couple of Canadian university students It is a water
based machine that attracts mosquitoes and traps the
can relate to the mos
eggs and larvae after consenting adults have paid a
quito that high tails it to
visit It is environmentally friendly and safe to use
your neighbour s yard
No mosquito electrocutions no gases are let off no
in search of blood when
chemicals are involved and no power is used in the
your marigolds are in
process other than four small batteries that drive a fan
bloom They are edible
According to the research material one Green
too Some people use the flower petals to spruce up a Strike unit effectively eliminates mosquitoes within
green salad But then some people claim that Brussels a radius of 20 meters Think about that and chances
sprouts are edible too I have no idea what they are are you will only need one for your whole backyard
talking about
Available at Home Hardware this spring
Speaking ofmosquitoes
Green Strike is new this year and I am yet to field
There are other tactics that you can employ in the test it But I like the idea and you can bet if it works
garden that will help to minimize the mosquito pop my wife will make sure you hear about it
ulation Note my careful use of words here mini
mize infers that you won t get rid of them all and
Q Can you recommend a Father s Day gift for a
nor should you Refer to my second paragraph if you gardener who has everything
have questions
A I strongly recommend you treat your Father to
Bats Encourage bats to take up residence in your tickets for Through the Garden Gate This is one of
yard You read right Bats are good when they don t Canada s largest private garden tours On Saturday
live in your attic as they consume up to their body June 13 and Sunday June 14 19 residential gardens
weight in insects each evening Some use their pat in Lawrence Park will open their gates For more info
ented sonar system to scoop up insects in their mem visit www torontobotanicalgarden ca
branous wings others snatch up bugs with their feet
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