Hi Anita,

Unfortunately it is quite difficult to completely eliminate mosquitoes from the environment, especially if you live in a swampy neighborhood. Removing breeding habitat is the most effective course of action, so removing sources of standing water such as bird baths, blocked gutters, or other items in the yard that may trap water (some examples are tires, tarps, barrels, or even kids toys). If you have low spots in the yard that accumulate puddles those areas can be filled in, and if you have any leaky faucets repairing those can also help reduce standing water. 

Some parts of the year mosquitoes are rather inevitable, so making sure to cover up with bug netting or long pants and wearing a repellant can help. If you are spending time on a deck you also can try placing a fan nearby, wind currents can help prevent mosquitoes from biting. You can find more information about ways to prevent and deter mosquitoes from this University of Georgia Extension publication:  https://ent.uga.edu/extension/controlling-mosquitoes.html

I am not aware of any perennial plants that are shown to be effective at reducing mosquitoes in the yard. For bird houses, I did some digging online and it sounds like some folks in the lower-48 put out houses for a bird called the Purple Martin which eats a lot of mosquitoes, however Alaska is not a home for that particular bird species so I am not sure how effective that approach would be in Alaska. 

There are some mosquito traps on the market however there is not good evidence that the trapping of adult mosquitoes reduces bites of people in the area; they do kill mosquitoes but also are attractive to mosquitoes, so overall there is not necessarily a reduction in bites on nearby humans when these are used. There is a bit of information about some of the issues/tradeoffs with traps from the University of Wisconsin extension service available here: https://mosquitosite.russell.wisc.edu/preventing-mosquito-bites/carbon-dioxide-baited-mosquito-traps/