Having mosquitoes in your HOA is a pain. It makes the community less attractive and mosquitoes can become dangerous if they carry diseases. It’s important that the whole community works together to cut down on the mosquitos. 

6 Mosquito Control Tips for HOAs

Cutting down on mosquitoes is a community effort. There is a lot that managers and board members can do together. However, you will need residents to collaborate too, so you need to communicate clearly with them. You can do that via emails, newsletters, and your website, or however residents prefer their community information.

1 – Avoid Pesticides and Insecticides

While mosquitoes are culprits for spreading a variety of diseases, only a few species are actually carriers. With more than 3,000 species of mosquitoes, it’s important not to eliminate the good guys. 

Mosquitoes are beneficial in their own way as they provide food for stagnant aquatic life, and also assist in pollination to help the gardens and landscaping in your communities remain beautiful and lush.

In your landscaping, you can follow this advice, and you can encourage residents to do the same.

2 – Remove all standing or slow-moving water

This is, perhaps, the easiest thing for residents and property managers to do when maintaining a safe environment for your Condo and HOA communities. 

Stagnant and slow-moving water is a breeding ground for mosquitoes. The pupae and larvae spend time in stagnant water, and eliminating these areas will help control the mosquito population on your property.

• Inspect your property for irrigation and grading issues. If you use sprinkler systems, check that all sprinkler heads are clearing the ground and not creating a pooling of water.
• Send out communications out to your residents, reminding them to change the water in birdbaths, flowerpots, pet bowls, or any other item containing water or food, weekly.
• Ask them to store any unused gardening equipment (such as wheelbarrows or buckets) indoors, if possible. If there is no indoor storage, keep them stored upside down and in a dry area.
• Check children’s play areas regularly. Empty swings of standing water after it rains deter mosquitoes from breeding where children play.

3 – Use natural deterrents

Naturally controlling the mosquito populations is the best way to go, and there are easy ways to accomplish this with limited resources.

• Incorporate pest-repelling plants in your community landscaping. Lemon balm, marigolds, and citronella grass are a few common plants that are easy to grow.
• Use oil of lemon eucalyptus as a natural spray. It is just as effective as low levels of DEET.
• Use Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (or Bti) products in decorative ponds or other areas that cannot be drained or flushed out. Bti tablets are reasonably priced and are not harmful to other animals, humans, or aquatic life. The CDC recommends using Bti.

4 – Regular landscape maintenance

Mosquitoes and other pesky insects, such as flies, thrive in damp, shady areas. Keeping the lawn manicured and removing low-lying shrubbery is an easy way to limit the areas for unwanted insects to live. In effect, this increases the sun and wind exposure, which is uninhabitable for mosquitoes in your community.

With a proactive plan to reduce the threat of mosquitoes managers and board members will notice an increase in the use of common area amenities. This includes barbecue grills and outdoor areas. Not only will it limit the number of pesky biters, but your properties will look well maintained and beautiful, as well.

5 – Ask for help

If you live somewhere with a lot of mosquitoes, you can ask your local government to help. They probably have a service to help combat mosquitoes if the problem does get out of control. Even if your local government can’t help, there are private companies that are available if you need them.

Conclusion

By combatting mosquitoes you can improve your landscaping, and maintenance and make your community a nicer place to be! It’s a win-win. Communicating with your residents to tell them your action plan and ask for their help will make combatting mosquitoes much easier.

If you need help managing all the tasks you need to do in the summer months and would like two free ebooks, our summer bundle is here for you! We included an ebook on being prepared for hurricanes, how to manage amenities, and a summer checklist.