With spring and summer arriving soon, mosquitos and ticks will be joining us for our outdoor activities.  Mosquitoes and ticks can transmit disease and they are also just plain annoying. A single female mosquito can lay 100-200 eggs at a time, and they need very little water.  But it’s still possible to enjoy the outdoors with a few good management strategies.

To help you learn how to better protect yourself, your family and your yard from mosquitoes and ticks, the Fairlington Citizens Association, the Virginia Cooperative Extension and the Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia (MGNV) are sponsoring a presentation on Tuesday, April 9 at 7:00pm at the Fairlington Community Center.  Master Gardener and MGNV President Joan McIntyre will talk about common mosquitoes and ticks in Virginia, where and when they are most active, environment-friendly strategies that can help control populations and how people can protect themselves. Broad spectrum pesticides harm many insects, including necessary pollinators. Other controls are less harmful and can be more effective.

We must all be well-informed and active participants in the fight to combat mosquitos and ticks in our community and the diseases they may carry.  Individually and together, we can take action to mitigate mosquitos and ticks for a more enjoyable outdoor life in Fairlington this spring and summer.