How to Keep Mosquitoes Away From Your Pool and Backyard

Seven simple tactics to take your evenings back this summer.

You spent good money on a backyard you can actually enjoy. Then mosquitoes show up and your family ends up indoors by 7 p.m.
This guide gives you seven tactics that work. Most cost less than $50, and you can start tonight.
One quick note before the list: your pool is not the problem. A running pump circulates the water enough that mosquitoes will not lay eggs there, and chlorine kills any that try. The real trouble is the puddles, pots, and pool covers around your yard. That is where this guide focuses.

1. Drain standing water everywhere you find it

Mosquitoes need only a thimble of still water to breed. Walk your yard with a five-gallon bucket and dump out anything holding water:

• Flower pot saucers and overflow plates

• Kids' pool toys, inflatable rafts, and plastic buckets

• Birdbaths (refill weekly)

• Pet bowls left outside

• Wheelbarrows, watering cans, old tires

• Clogged gutters and storm drains

Then check your pool cover. Water collects on solid covers after every rain. Sweep it off, towel it dry, or run the shop vac over it once a week.
This step alone solves most backyard mosquito problems.

2. Treat the water you can't drain

Birdbath you want to keep? Storm drain you can't move? A fountain or koi pond?

Drop in a larvicide tablet (search 'mosquito dunks' online). These slow-release pucks kill larvae before they grow wings and do not harm pets, plants, birds, or fish. One tablet treats up to 100 square feet of water for about a month.

3. Keep your landscape tight

Mosquitoes hide from the heat in tall grass, weeds, and overgrown hedges. Mow weekly, trim shrubs at the fence line, and pull weeds before they spread. If you have artificial turf, check that it is draining properly and not pooling.

Worth a friendly word with your neighbors, too. A messy yard next door undoes a lot of your work.

4. Set up a mosquito trap

Traps mimic the carbon dioxide and warmth that mosquitoes track to find you. They lure the insects in, suck them into a net, and skip the chemicals entirely.

Two options:

• UV or LED traps: $50 to $150, good for small yards

• Propane traps (Mosquito Magnet, SkeeterVac): $300 to $700, better for large yards or wooded lots

Place yours near water sources but as far as possible from where the family sits. One unit usually covers a standard backyard.

5. Put up a physical barrier

For the worst mosquito zones, a barrier is your strongest play.
Mesh patio curtains hang from a pergola, gazebo, or awning. They cost a few hundred dollars, take an afternoon to install, and come down for the off-season.

Screen room enclosures (also called lanais) wrap the whole pool and patio in fine mesh from 8 to 14 feet tall. They are close to 100 percent effective and run $5,000 to $12,000 for a typical 30-foot pool. Worth it if you live in Florida or anywhere along the Gulf Coast.

6. Win the night of your party

Hosting a cookout? Stack these three tactics the day of:

• Run box fans at ground level near the seating area. Mosquitoes are weak fliers and a 10 mph breeze grounds them.

• Light citronella torches or candles within a few feet of where guests sit. The scent masks the human signals mosquitoes track.

• Spray a short-acting insecticide like pyrethrin on hedges and shrubs the morning of the party. It wears off in a day, so use it sparingly and only when you need it.

For guests who still attract bites, set out a basket of repellent wipes near the door.

7. Call a pro if your yard is a hotspot

Some yards fight back. If you back up to a marsh, a wooded lot, or a neighbor's overgrown property, the tactics above will only get you so far.

A pest control company can spray hard-to-reach areas, install an in-ground misting system (a series of timed nozzles around the yard), and treat trees you cannot reach yourself. Ask for a quarterly plan rather than a one-time visit. Mosquito populations rebuild fast.

Your backyard should be the best room in the house from May through September. Walk the yard this weekend, drain the obvious water, and pick two tactics from this list to start tonight. By next Saturday, you'll notice the difference. Once the mosquitoes are handled, the next move is dialing in the ambience that turns a pool into an evening hangout.

Got questions about your pool, or thinking about putting one in? That's what we do.