Q: What is the worst sound you can think of? A: The whining high pitched sound of a mosquito…especially when the lights are out and your head is on the pillow. Q: Who sucks your blood more greedily than Dracula A: The ticks that grow as fat as a grape gorging themselves and spreading Lyme disease. Q: How can you reduce or eliminate mosquitoes and ticks from your yard and garden A: Garlic Fogging
There are professional companies in business today that will come to your home and spray your property to eliminate mosquitoes and ticks for a hefty price. It was long ago that I passed a truck fogging a home and I caught the unmistakable scent of garlic. Well, it gave me an idea. Why not create an inexpensive home garlic fogging system that the homeowner can use to fog and treat their property? Why should the homeowners have to pay big bucks on a regular basis to some franchise to fog bushes and beds to prevent these annoying and dangerous pests.
If you remember from a previous garlic “rant”, garlic is a member of the onion genus Allium. It is a close relative to the onion, shallot, leek and chive but does so much more than repel Dracula. Garlic produces a natural sulfur which repels a virtual “who’s who” of insect and animal pests. Liquid garlic is tough on ticks by suffocating them and killing their eggs. It also suffocates the mosquito larvae that develop in standing water. Likewise, aphids, beetles and a host of other creepy crawly things. Spray or fog liquid garlic liberally over standing water, thick undergrowth, lawn areas, flower beds and directly on plants and vegetables.
But there is a miraculous beauty to garlic liquid because it is systemically absorbed by plants but doesn’t affect the taste of the fruit or vegetables. It has been proven to repel birds away from ripening fruit in a harmless non-toxic way.
Going a step further, most snake repellents use garlic as an ingredient because snakes don’t like the sulfonic acid that garlic produces. Use a little rock salt around the perimeter ( tough on the snakes belly)along with some garlic spray and you’ve created a great snake barrier.
Maybe you’re dealing with something a little larger such as deer. According to the University of California integrated pest management program, deer hate the fragrance of garlic and really hate the taste too. If you’re struggling to save those hostas again this year, look no further for an all natural way to repel those browsing pests that can tear through your garden in an afternoon!
It seems that most all animals with a more sensitive sense of smell than us mere humans can’t stand the strong odor of garlic. Garlic spraying or fogging is one way of deterring cats from your garden and mice from your house. Moles, voles, rats and bats…no one likes garlic. And that’s the reason we love garlic. It’s the safe, non-lethal way to deal with most all flying, crawling and difficult pests.
