Mosquitoes.  Those pesky little insects always seem to want to surround you when you’re in the backyard and leave you with little itchy spots all over.

While you can’t get rid of them entirely, there are ways to help reduce the chances that mosquitoes decide to make your backyard their home.

Mosquitoes thrive around standing water so the first thing you’ll want to do is ensure that your yard doesn’t offer them a place to breed and fester.  After a rainfall, do you notice spots where water is pooling?  If so, taking care of these areas reduces the chances that they’ll want to hang out in your backyard.

The other spot to be aware of is the gutters.  Debris such as leaves and sticks can cause gutters to have standing water making your home an ideal spot for mosquitoes.

Mario Brothers Home Improvement recommends that you maintain and clean your gutters regularly to reduce the chances that mosquitoes flock to your home.  Beyond the itchy bites, mosquitoes can carry diseases like heartworm which affects dogs and the West Nile Virus.