WASHINGTON — Garlic is said to keep vampires away, but it could also be used to keep another bloodsucker out of your yard: mosquitoes.
“There is absolutely no harm and great potential benefit to go out and get a commercial garlic spray and spray it in your backyard,” WTOP Garden Editor Mike McGrath says.
The spray can be great for outdoor events such as 4th of July parties or outdoor weddings.
“The yard does smell like an Italian restaurant for a couple hours,” McGrath warned, “but then the garlic spray dries.” And when it does, it can offer your yard up to 10 days of mosquito deterrence.
But it doesn’t work on skin. “If you are just going to be outside and you want to protect yourself without using the chemical repellent DEET, there is a product based on the lemon-scented herbs,” said McGrath.
But the gardening expert couldn’t help but acknowledge the odd property of garlic to bother vampires and mosquitoes.
“There is this tradition of garlic being a protection against bloodsuckers and all I can say is it makes this world even more remarkable than we knew it was.”
