I use a product called
Yard-Guard, produced by Raid. You spray the fog about an hour before using the outdoor space: it's surprisingly effective,
not to be used indoors, and runs less than $8 a can.
The huge clouds of spray from mosquito-control trucks make me nervous.
There is also a harmless pelletized product that can be dropped from aircraft, but it has to be spread after a likely mosquito egg-laying weather event. I'm told you can drink the water it should fall into—without harm. It kills off the "hatch" using bacteria that are fatal to mosquito larva at any stage of their development.
This tree-top photo of a County Mosquito-Control helicopter—taken yesterday—shows one "saddlebag" dropping the beige-colored larvacide pellets. What it
doesn't show is how one's dishes rattle and how the roof shakes with the helicopter's passage!
"Be careful what you wish for".
