Barrels catch rainwater and hold water gardens, but they should not be breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
A rain barrel is an environmental plus, and a water garden in a half-barrel is an aesthetic enhancement of your patio or garden. A mosquito breeding site is not. Mosquitoes love to lay their eggs on a still water surface. Those hatching hordes of pests are more than just a buzzing irritant and a few itchy bites. Mosquitoes carry West Nile virus and dengue fever and other nasty bugs, so keeping them at bay is a high priority. Does this Spark an idea?
Seal a Rain Barrel
Get a barrel with a sealed lid or a tight-fitting one. Seal around any downspouts that feed into your barrel with silicone or other waterproof glue. Place a fine screen over the intake or the open top of a barrel to keep debris and egg-laying mosquitoes out. Ensure the screen isn't resting right on the water surface when the barrel is full.
Agitate the Water
For a half-barrel water garden, a nirvana-like setup for breeding mosquitoes, you have effective anti-mosquito options. Use a small pump to aerate and agitate the water, which creates a healthier habitat for fish and plants, looks and sounds charming and disturbs the water's surface so it is less attractive to mosquitoes. Unless you run the pump all the time, it won't entirely solve the problem, but it does cut down on egg laying.
Get Some Fish
Add a lethal weapon to your water garden in your ongoing war against mosquitoes. Small aquarium fish or goldfish regard mosquito larvae as lunch. They eat and you don't scratch -- very efficient. You need approximately a gallon of water per fish if you use a pump and filters. And don't be seduced by Koi. Koi are pretty and flashy, and they grow like weeds to be very large fish -- too large for a water barrel. Save the awesome Koi larva-eaters for a large pond where they will cheerfully decimate the mosquito population and probably some of your aquatic plants.
Wear Herbs
No scientific evidence so far demonstrates that merely planting lavender, catnip and other mosquito-repelling plants will drive the pests away from your water barrel. But you can light a citronella candle in still air and avoid being bitten. Or wear protective oils made with neem, citronella, lavender, eucalyptus or catnip. The oils work for a short time and must be reapplied for long exposure. Avoid DEET, which is absorbed by the skin and can cause neurological damage in high doses. Use fragrant natural herbs and oils that work as well as DEET. And eat garlic; mosquitoes hate garlic.
Use Dunks
Mosquito dunks float around on a water barrel and repel mosquitoes. A dunk is a donut impregnated with good bacteria that will eliminate mosquito larvae. You can put dunks in pools, ponds, birdbaths, rain barrels and gutters. The dunks are inexpensive and safe for people, pets, plants and fish -- but not mosquitoes, so invest in some for extra protection against the buzzing pests.
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