All posts by Mosquito Joe

Mosquito Control Awareness Week is coming this June 24 – 30th and Mosquito Joe is busy preparing to get involved. We are continuing our partnership with Nothing But Nets. Last year, for each customer that signed for service, we donated $10 to the Nothing But Nets program. Ten dollars buys one insecticide-treated bed net to protect a family from malaria. In 2017 our customers raised $14,305 in donations, above and beyond the donations given by each Mosquito Joe location participating. We are really excited to be involved with this great organization and are looking forward to seeing our partnership grow every year. You can learn more about Nothing But Nets by visiting them on the web at www.nothingbutnets.net. Watch this space for an update on this years’ efforts and results!

The American Mosquito Control Association heads up Mosquito Control Awareness Week every year and offers up tips and tricks to minimize mosquitoes in your yard. You can visit them at www.mosquito.org to learn more. They just released their newest video to celebrate the 83rd annual meeting of the association and you can see that here.

Meanwhile, there are some other fun happenings in June that you can check out, especially now that the kids are off school and antsy for excitement.

The Summer Sunset Series kicks off in Bryan in June. Every Thursday this month you can head downtown for a free concert. This year the line-up includes The Nightowls, Cilantro Boombox, The Chubby Knuckle Choir, Steady Legend and Roxy Roca. Concerts run from 8 to 10 pm and the venue opens at 7:30.

The 8th Annual Tastefest kicks off on June 7th at the Lonestar Convention Center in Conroe. Running from 5-8pm, you can sample all the culinary delights for $25 (includes 2 adult beverages and all you can eat) for adults, while kids 5 and under are free. You can buy your tickets here.

Speaking of kids home for the summer, our area offers a number of fun summer camps to keep your little ones learning and busy. Everything from basketball to robot making, Karate to Lego’s, there are a variety of camps for kids of all ages to participate in. If you are looking for something closer to home, grab an inexpensive water slide or hose, water balloons or water guns, and let the kids have at it in the yard. With Mosquito Joe treating you can rest assured they will enjoy the fun and games without bites and fire ants to ruin the fun. However, you chose to spend your June, we hope you have one full of fun and free of bugs!

April 22^nd, 1970 marks the birth of Earth Day. Millions of people gathered to protest the negative impacts of industrial development on our planet. Since that time, Earth Day has grown into a movement with participation by over 192 countries and over one billion people. Earth Day this year is focusing on ending plastic pollution. Currently, 300 million TONS (yes, tons!) of plastic is produced each year, and only 10% of that is recycled. According to some sources, more plastic has been produced and used in the last decade than in the entirety of the 20^th century. While the push to increase recycling continues, this year Earth Day Network is asking everyone to commit to reducing the use of plastics and instead switch to sustainable alternatives. You can learn more about pledging and committing to reduce waste by clicking here.

Houston has its own website for Earth Day where you can request more information, or you can like them on Facebook. Big changes start with each and every one of us, so get involved and start making an impact!

Speaking of making an impact, last year Mosquito Joe partnered with Nothing But Nets in their fight against malaria. For each new customer serviced during Mosquito Control Awareness Week, Mosquito Joe donated $10 to Nothing But Nets. Each donation paid for an insecticide-treated net for a family in Sub-Sahara Africa. We collected $14,100 in donations as a company and raised over $20,000 with donation matching. That’s over 2,000 nets! You can read more about the partnership here.

World Malaria Day is April 25^th, and what better time to reach out and make a donation! Every 2 minutes a child dies from malaria and nearly half the world’s population is at risk. Visit their website to learn more about Nothing But Nets. We look forward to continuing our work with them this year and with your help, plan on exceeding our donation from last year.

In keeping with our global outlook, we want to make mention of one last celebration this month! Arbor Day falls on April 27^th this year. There are so many activities and ways to get involved that it would be impossible to list them all here. You can visit this link for information specific to Texas and find some local goings-on, including Montgomery, Conroe, Brenham and Bryan.

Arbor Day has its roots in Nebraska when Julius Morton made his way there from Detroit. He became the editor of Nebraska’s first Newspaper and disseminated information on agriculture and trees to his audience. Pioneers who read his paper started planting trees to help protect them from the wind and to provide building material for their homes. These days, Arbor Day is recognized in all 50 states and looks to the future, rather than the past. Arbor Day is about recognizing the vital role that trees play in our world and the needs of future generations.

So this April, replace your plastics, donate a net and plant a tree! Together we can all make the world a better place.

If you are anything like us gardening starts in earnest this month! While our seeds have been germinating since last month, March is the best time to get outside and really make things happen. There are some really awesome (and free) sources on the web that can help. Check out this full list of veggies and the best dates to plant them and when to move those seeds outside organized by zip code.

Start in early March by mowing your lawn, even if it doesn’t need it. Mowing will prevent weeds from flowering and re-seeding. You can fill any bare patches, but wait to feed your lawn until it is actively growing. This is also a great time to get those seedlings planted, particularly your herbs, allowing them some time to get established before the heat really hits.  It is also the best month to plant your fruit trees and shrubs and spring flowers.  Prune your roses and Crepe Myrtles, but be gentle. There are a lot of great “how-to’s” out there on how to do it right, and it doesn’t involve butchering the poor things.

Spring into Gardening

Most folks start off the spring gardening season by laying out fresh mulch. There is no doubt that this one update can make a dramatic visual improvement to your yard. But did you know that mulch is full of mosquito eggs? It’s not something we gave much thought to until we started Mosquito Joe, but mulch contains thousands of eggs.

The first thing we do when the mulch goes down? We water it, unknowingly hatching all those eggs. Always let us know when you are preparing to put down new mulch. We will make notes in your service account and make sure the technicians treat that mulch for you to minimize the bites when you are outside gardening.

Another big preparation at our house is the annual unpacking of the Hummingbird feeders. We are up to about 20 at this point, and the number of Hummingbirds increases every year. March is the time to get those out – it may already be a bit late.  Visit this awesome Hummingbird tracker (you can even participate with your own sightings) to see when they are arriving in our area. Just make sure you don’t forget the other birds and load up your feeders.

We also recommend that you clean out your birdbaths and refresh the water. Remember that stagnant water is a great source for mosquitoes, so make sure you keep it refreshed. Our technicians will always dump (if they can lift it) and treat any birdbaths when they come, but keeping an eye on that water is best for the birds and for you.

One of our favorite places to visit for plants, gardening inspiration and some great classes is The Arbor Gate. They have some great vegetable planting calendars, an inspirational blog, and even an app you can download that lets you calculate mulch needs, comes with a plant database and is chock full of how-to videos.

Whatever you are planting and planning this spring, we wish you a green thumb and hope you enjoy your time outside without those pesky mosquitoes ruining it!