How Can Overwatering Your Lawn Create A Mosquito Population Boom?

With the hot days of summer arriving within days, and prime mosquito season rearing its head, this is a great time to consult an irrigation professional to ensure you're not wasting water and overwatering your lawn and landscape.

Save Water And Stop Attracting Mosquitoes

Every day, there seems to be some significant technological innovation to help us live smarter and better. And the irrigation industry is no different.

Between rain sensors and lawn soil gauges that can determine how much water your lawn needs, there is no reason why overwatering your lawn should be a problem anymore.

Mosquito Squad of Southeastern Massachusetts Has the Formula Keep Mosquitoes Away

Depending on the heat and rain conditions, lawncare experts recommend watering your lawn once or twice a week, giving your grass 1 to 1-1/2 inches of water each time.

A watering session should be long enough to soak the area sufficiently, so all the roots receive a beneficial drink. Sprinklers should run for about 30 to 35 minutes at a time twice a week to achieve this.

The precise number of minutes for each watering will vary from lawn to lawn, depending on factors like the size of your lawn, the type of sprinklers you have in your irrigation system, and its settings.

When You Continue Overwatering Your Lawn, It's Double Trouble

Overwatering your lawn suffocates your grass and also stunts root growth. It also acts as a catalyst to create a mosquito population boom. No matter how you look at it, that's terrible news.

Your lawn is always trying to tell you something. The signs will be there if you're giving it too much water. You just have to know what to look for.

According to LawnStar here are the easy signs:

1. Runoff: If you can clearly see streams of water running off your lawn and down the sidewalk or street, that water obviously isn't making it into your soil. This indicates that your lawn is already well saturated, possibly overwatered. Additionally, the runoff water could wash away nutrients your lawn craves.

2. Spongey Lawn: Another simple way to tell if your lawn is getting too much water is to give it a step test. Just step on the lawn in a few different areas. If the turf feels spongey or just plain squishy, you should probably dial it back a bit.

3. A Lot of Weeds: While an overwatered lawn is not ideal for growing healthy grass, it may be the optimum conditions for weeds like smooth crabgrass or yellow nutsedge to thrive. If you see a lot of weeds moving in and starting to take over, it could mean you're going a little heavy on the watering.

4. Growing Fungi: If you notice discoloration on your lawn – particularly colorful growth on the grass blades – you likely have overwatered to provide optimal conditions for fungus growth. Mushrooms popping up across your lawn is also a clear indicator, and keep in mind that mushrooms can be hazardous to pets and children.

6. Bugs Move-In: A nice thick layer of thatch is a great place for mosquitoes and bugs to hide. It protects them from the sun, predators, and even some pesticides. If you've noticed that the insects are really growing in numbers, it could be that overwatering has made things easy for them.

How Overwatering Your Lawn Attracts Mosquitoes

Mosquitoes love water and need it to thrive and survive. The more still a water supply is, the more they love it.

So, you can see how a soaked, overwatered lawn is an open invitation for mosquitoes to call your landscape their new home.

Water is necessary for mosquito eggs to hatch into larvae, so the female mosquitoes scout out a moist location to lay their eggs. Overwatering your lawn creates the perfect conditions. The larvae, called wrigglers, feed on organic matter in stagnant water and breathe oxygen from the surface.

Mosquito Squad Is Ready to Eliminate Mosquitoes Around Your Home

Don't forget to reduce mosquito habitats with smart lawn watering on your property and following the 7 Ts of mosquito control. Professional mosquito control barrier treatment is the best way to reduce mosquitoes on your property long term.

Mosquito Squad of Southeastern Massachusetts is the originator of the mosquito barrier treatment that reduces backyard mosquitoes by up to 90%. Call our team today to request a free quote for Southeastern Massachusetts mosquito control services.