I’m planning a backyard barbecue this weekend, and I want my guests to linger long after dessert to enjoy the cool night air. But as I was cleaning up my outdoor furniture last night, I was chased inside by a bunch of hungry mosquitoes!

So first thing this morning I whipped up a batch of my Buzz Buster Lemonade and sprayed it on everything in my yard. I’ll reapply it the morning of the barbecue so the vile villains have to take up the hunt elsewhere.

Here’s the recipe:

Put 1 cup each of lemon-scented ammonia and lemon-scented dishwashing liquid into a 20 gallon Hose-End Sprayer, and hose down everything in your yard three times a week, preferably in the morning.

To really control backyard mosquito problems, you need to eliminate their breeding grounds. Here’s a short to-do list:

• Get rid of any debris that could hold water—like those old tires you keep meaning to take to the dump.
• Fill in potholes and any low-lying areas where rainwater collects.
• Change your pets’ water at least once a day, and refill birdbaths every couple of days.
• Empty portable wading pools as soon as the kids are through using them. Then, turn them upside down or take them indoors.

For more ways to send pesky pests packin’, check out my Critter Control & Pest Prevention book—FREE for 21 days! It’s filled with a whole wheelbarrow of ways to kick ‘em outta Dodge—and keep ‘em out!