In regards to Louisiana_botanist and anyone else interested in the effectiveness of Mosquito Barrier... I purchased two bottles of this to help combat the army of mosquitos that we had just in our backyard. The first application I added a little more of the product than needed but we had severe mosquitos. The product claims to also repel fleas and ticks which is a plus since we have two dogs. I applied the stuff with a sprayer following instructions and sprayed entire yard and some of the tree near our patio. Once you apply it, your yard will smell like garlic for an hour or two so be sure to spray it in a way so you don't step on the grass that was just sprayed (I sprayed it walking backwards) so I didn't track the smell in the house. The next night we went to see how well it did, surprisingly enough it worked well. Instead of getting bit 8 times while constantly moving around for 2-3 minutes, I didn't get bit at all for 5 minutes while even standing still but I did see at least one mosqutio while out. It lasts for a good while so long as there isn't a heavy rain or you water the lawn more than once a week. General application would typically last 2-3 weeks for me due to needing to water at least twice a week and/or rain. The "barrier" tends to be breached by a few mosquitos as each day passes until they increase in numbers where you notice them again and need to spray a second application. Since I used to live in New Orleans I know how bad mosquitos can be there but I would say you will definately see a difference after using this. The cause of my mosquito problem was due to a neighbor with a water fountain in the backyard that had lots of standing water. Now that they have let it just dry out, I have 1/10 the mosquitos I had before and haven't needed to spray anything in over a month.

I have catnip (Nepeta cataria) in my yard to use as a mosquito repellent. It works. I live in a rural area and in the past, whenever the farmer planted corn in a field west of my property, the mosquitoes would attack me in great numbers. I had to cover myself with Deet. If I missed a spot applying the Deet, the mosquitoes would go after my ears for example. It got so bad that I bought one of those propane foggers to clear out my backyard of mosquitoes. The mosquitoes must love corn fields. Whenever the farmer planted soy beans, the mosquito population wasn't so bad. I read about catnip (Nepeta cataria) being a great natural mosquito repellent so I bought a pound of seeds and planted catnip seeds on the west part of my yard, next to the farmer's field. After about 2 years, the catnip spread like crazy. It became invasive in a way. I believe that birds eat the seeds because I had catnip growing in my front garden (east). I pull out catnip where I don't want it. My catnip grows over 5 feet tall and I use those 5 foot tall tomato cages to keep it upright. Another thing about my catnip, it has a mild scent of a skunk when I walk through it or when a breeze blows through it.

My husband and I have a house in OKC & one in Norman. The house in the city has horrible...I mean HORRIBLE mosquitos. Not big ones mind you, but tons of them! In Norman, there is a big pond nearby & we usually have mosquitos early in the summer & then they get less and less (its the ticks & such that never let up). I attribute the difference to the fact that in Norman, there is the pond & a lot more wilderness to be had. In other words, there is a natural control. More than anything else in the air around our house in Norman would be the constant zoom-zooming of dragonflies. And last year there were quite honestly CLOUDS of dragonflies. Beautiful creatures...and I think the MAIN REASON mosquitoes aren't that bad at my place. I'm sure there are tons of sites on how to encourage dragonflies to your place. I would suggest doing THAT and using DEET spray on yourself (don't forget the ticks!) until the dragonflies really get going.

I am looking for the following: Lemon grass, citronella, catnip, rosemary, thyme, geranium, mint and lavender. I will trade. I have lots of different seeds. Please e-mail me at: ahrobdog@tds.net