Help Protect yourself and your loved ones from mosquitoes this season.

Remove Standing Water 

• Female mosquitoes lay eggs in standing water and can’t reproduce if the larvae have no place to live. At least once a week, empty anything that can collect or pool water, such as buckets, birdbaths, dog bowls, kiddie pools, tarps, playground equipment, plant saucers, and gutters.

Plant Natural Deterrents

• Researchers found that if they planted bee balm, marigolds, spotted geraniums, lavender, sweet fern, and citronella around the edge of the barrels, with cherry tomatoes and basil in the middle. “It’s not enough to plant mosquito-repellent species, but you have to activate them,” he says. When people pick tomatoes or herbs, they brush the other plants, giving off chemicals that interfere with the mosquitoes’ ability to navigate and find prey. (Noah Perlut and his students at the University of New England)