{"id":907045,"date":"2026-07-02T07:57:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T07:57:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/907045\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T07:57:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T07:57:20","slug":"how-to-keep-mosquitoes-away-from-your-fourth-of-july-backyard-celebration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/907045\/","title":{"rendered":"How to keep mosquitoes away from your Fourth of July backyard celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN ANTONIO<\/strong> \u2013 For many, the Fourth of July means spending time outdoors either on the patio, in the pool or around the grill. But with summer in full swing, mosquitoes may drop in for a bite or two.<\/p>\n

If you are looking to create a mosquito-free zone, you may want to consider products to place in the yard.<\/p>\n

The person manning the grill is sometimes in the middle of the smoke.<\/p>\n

Molly Keck, an entomologist with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, said mosquitoes are not fans of smoke, and a lot of people aren\u2019t either.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt certainly can push mosquitoes away, but you know, how comfortable is that to stand in the middle of smoke,\u201d Keck said.<\/p>\n

She said another, less problematic option could be to set up candles and torches burning essential oils from plants known to repel mosquitoes.<\/p>\n

\u201cCitronella, everybody knows about that one,\u201d Keck said. \u201cEucalyptus, mints, basil, lavender, and marigolds, too. They have compounds within the plant that can repel mosquitoes.\u201d<\/p>\n

To enjoy the benefit, she said, you want to be as close to it while remaining safe.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you do a candle or you do like an incense that you are burning, put it in the middle of the table where you\u2019re eating or right next to where you are sitting because once you kind of get out of that few range, then they\u2019re probably gonna still find you,\u201d Keck said.<\/p>\n

In addition to the essential oils Keck listed, an online search showed that other essential oils offer repellency, such as catnip, lemongrass and bergamot.<\/p>\n

Be sure to read and heed the warnings on candles and torches as to which essential oils to use.<\/p>\n

Keck said the more torches or candles you have, the better the repellency, but it can cost.<\/p>\n

She emphasized the best way to create a more mosquito-free zone is to dump out stagnant or standing water around your yard.<\/p>\n

But what about yard decorations such as bird baths, water features like fountains or ponds, or containers like troughs that need to stay filled with water?<\/p>\n

Keck said you may not have to dump out the water to stop mosquitoes from breeding in it.<\/p>\n

She suggested using an eco-friendly product like Mosquito Dunks, which can be dropped into the water to kill mosquito larvae.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mosquito dunks BTI is a bacteria that only affects the gut of mosquitoes. So your koi pond, your prize racehorse, your pets, wildlife, nothing else is going to be affected, and some flies,\u201d Keck said. \u201cMost flies that are laying their eggs and, you know, living in dirty water, we don\u2019t want anyway. So it\u2019s very environmentally effective, very host-specific and always recommended.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mosquito dunks are available online at various retailers in the home and garden section.<\/p>\n

As always, she suggested applying an insect repellent approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that contains DEET, lemon eucalyptus, or picaridin, ingredients that mosquitoes hate.<\/p>\n

But Keck said people should keep in mind that there is no silver bullet that will completely eliminate mosquitoes.<\/p>\n

Read also: <\/b><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 For many, the Fourth of July means spending time outdoors either on the patio, in…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":907046,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5133],"tags":[5229,10202,51879,2824,7202,7203,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-907045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-america","tag-fourth-of-july","tag-mosquitoes","tag-outdoors","tag-san-antonio","tag-sanantonio","tag-texas","tag-tx","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116849321137569305","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=907045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907045\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/907046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=907045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=907045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=907045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}