I attempted rubbing leaves of our native beautyberry shrub onto my arms to repel mosquitoes, and it labored. Which is sweet as a result of nothing else retains the buzzing bug-banes from carrying us away … at the least not for lengthy.
Felder Dashing
A little bit of background: I used to be raised within the Delta when it was regular to experience bicycles behind “the fogging machine” — a truck-mounted sprayer spewing dense clouds of sweet-smelling vaporized DDT. As a result of my dad would tip the driving force a greenback to again as much as our yard and let it blow an additional jiffy, I’m so laced with it that it’s in all probability unlawful to cremate me in California as a result of my smoke is such an environmental hazard!
However that and window screens and consistently swaying on the porch swing have been about all we discovered to work on the time. Oh, and people kooky orange-glowing mosquito coils we purchased on the drive-in theater to maintain ’skeeters out of the automobile. Invented in Japan simply over a century in the past, the coils (known as katori senk or mosquito incense) are nonetheless broadly used worldwide, the place their pungent pyrethrin or citronella-infused smoke truly does a good job of lowering bites.
And, in fact, we slathered on deet, picaradin, Pores and skin So Gentle and different repellents, and these days we put on bracelets and cling scorching blue-light bug zappers, Thermacells, insecticide misters and controversial sugar-and-yeast traps (which most researchers and reviewers agree are largely helpful psychologically).
Apart from sporting lengthy sleeves and utilizing skin-applied repellents, none of them are actually efficient for everybody, or for lengthy. Even the DDT fogging machine solely knocked them down for an evening or two; apart from for PR, the stuff some cities spray lately is virtually nugatory, being very delicate and infrequently utilized on the improper time of late afternoon or night time to be a lot use.
However there are three attention-grabbing backyard approaches that, although they don’t work properly in any respect, are helpful to us as gardeners and make us look good to neighbors: Bat homes, purple martin gourds and insect-repelling crops.
I lastly hung a bat roost-house on my home. After years of getting dozens of the furry flyers drop at nightfall out of a louvered gable vent close to my home’s attic, I screened them out, fearful a couple of buildup of guano inflicting a large number within the attic. I mounted the brand new picket roost up excessive, dealing with the south for winter heat, and hope the little winged mammals will discover it quickly.
And, like having a tower of gourd fowl homes, it alerts to everybody round that I’m doing my half to assist management mosquitoes.
Bother is — and this was distressing to study even by this cynical outdated researcher — regardless of the avalanche of critically conflated articles on the contrary, all of that are memes primarily based on outdated, critically flawed and overblown stories, researchers now broadly acknowledge that bats truly eat only a few mosquitoes and purple martins don’t eat mosquitoes in any respect. They each go for larger, slower fare. Details, people, not opinion.
Of all of the mosquito-repelling crops touted in every single place you flip, not a single one has any impact by any means except you crush and rub the oily leaves onto pores and skin or garments.
There are many them: Oregano, lemon grass, mints, monarda, catnip, rosemary, marigold, verbena, garlic, basil, ageratum, eucalyptus, pennyroyal, scented geraniums, lantana … and even our stunning native magenta-purple fruited beautyberry shrub. Gotta rub them, not simply plant them.
My greatest ’skeeter resolution? An inexpensive field fan that creates simply sufficient breeze to disperse mosquito-attracting breath and confuse the weak fliers. It really works at the least in addition to all of the others put collectively.
Felder Dashing is a Mississippi writer, columnist and host of the “Gestalt Gardener” on MPB Assume Radio. E mail gardening inquiries to
