Mosquito Problem

[N80]

Well, I've moved from a 1 acre lot in the burbs into our old family home downtown. In the back yard there is an enormous magnolia tree. For whatever reason the mosquitoes seem to breed and thrive under this magnolia and the back yard is almost unusable in the summer. Its worse than my wooded lot in the burbs. I'm speculating that the problem is that magnolia leaves are waxy and when they fall bottom side up they make little swimming pools for the skeeters.

I'm wondering if there is any non-toxic way I can control them. Will ask for toxic remedies if none other can be found.

I realize that leaf control is step one but if you know magnolias you know this can be almost impossible.

I'm wondering if there are any surfactant or detergent preperations that can be sprayed onto the leaves to make the water in them unsuitable for the mosquitoes to breed in.

Would greatly appreciate any advice or home remedies. Thanks.

 

[N80]

I found this:

Agnique Surfactant Mosquito Control Quart - Bugpage.com

But that spray bottle would be hard to use in such a large area. I guess I could put the contents into a garden pump sprayer. Anyone use this stuff before?

 

[N80]

I did some more research and it looks like this Agnique is worth a try. It also comes in granules and you can order larger quantities from other vendors. I think doing my best with the leaves, spreading or spraying with Agnique every few weeks and then using something like Yard Gard for special occassions might help.

Unfortunately there is another large magnolia in the yard next door.