Ticks prefer cool, humid areas and often hide in leaf litter clumps or wooded borders around your house. To reduce tick infestation in these locations, move children’s play equipment, picnic tables and lawn furniture away from yard edges and woods.
Use of perimeter treatments that include carbaryl, permethrin or bifenthrin may help reduce tick populations. You can apply these active ingredients via spray or granular applications.
Grass Cutting
Ticks prefer tall grass, weedy areas and wooded/brush-filled landscapes; they prefer shaded or moist places; preferring cool temperatures and humid conditions. Mowing your yard regularly is one way to reduce tick-prone areas by making the ground harder for ticks to hide in. Pruning overgrown shrubs and bushes are another effective strategy; trimming overgrowth is yet another excellent method; while adding a mulch border around your home may deter ticks by keeping their favorite conditions closer.
As well as mowing and trimming, be sure to regularly clear away leaf litter and brush from your yard. Doing this will reduce rodent attraction to your area as they carry ticks with them in search of hosts; keeping wood piles away from human hangout areas may also deter rodents from making themselves at home in your yard.
Instead of resorting to harmful pesticides that could prove toxic for both people and pets, try natural tick repellents like cedar oil spray or rosemary oil, which are completely safe. Simply spray these around the perimeter of your yard where most ticks reside – this will keep them away from children and pets while adding plant species such as eucalyptus or citrus peel oils is also effective.
Keeping Your Pets Indoors
Keep your pets inside as this is the most effective way to reduce tick populations in your yard, thereby decreasing their chances of contracting Lyme disease, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis or Tularemia. When taking them outside for exercise sessions or walks make sure that they stick to grassy areas away from any shrubs or brush; also remember to mow tall grass regularly and clear any overgrowth around your home.
Spraying your yard with tick pesticide is an essential component of your plan to combat these pesky creatures. Studies show that EPA-approved aracides, including carbaryl, permethrin and pyrethrins can kill between 68% and 100% of ticks when used correctly; targeted barrier applications along wooded or shady perimeters tend to be most successful and require licensed professional application services; two applications each year (mid-May and mid-June in the Northeast and upper Midwest and one application in fall when adult black-legged ticks appear) is typically most successful in terms of eliminating tick-borne tick populations.
Other tactics for combatting ticks in your yard may include clearing away tall grasses and brush, decreasing the size of wooded areas around your property, and setting up a 3-foot wide barrier of mulch, gravel or dirt between recreational areas and your lawn. Natural pet-safe neem oil spraying in small quantities over potential tick-hiding spots is another effective tick control measure; its nontoxic formula ensures safe use.
Keeping Your Pets on a Leash
Ticks are attracted to tall grass and brush where they can hide out until a host animal comes along, as well as to shaded areas where they can stay warm and moist. Therefore, regularly mowing your lawn and removing leaf debris will help deter ticks in your yard.
Keep your pets on leashes when venturing outdoors to better monitor their activity and ensure that they don’t wander too far from your property. Doing this also makes it easier to check them for ticks when entering the house.
If you must go outside, make sure you wear long trousers, sleeves and closed-toe shoes in order to protect yourself from ticks while doing yard work or hiking through wooded areas. Diatomaceous earth is also available as an effective tick killer that is made up of soft siliceous sedimentary rock which crumbles into fine white/off-white powder when crumbled up, as well as safe for both humans and animals when used according to manufacturer instructions.
Implementing a 3-foot wide barrier of mulch, gravel or wood chips into your yard will help deter ticks from entering it and potentially landing on children, pets or guests. Also try shifting outdoor recreational activities away from wooded and shrubby areas to reduce tick populations further.
Keeping Your Pets Clean
Just a few basic steps can help make your yard less inviting to ticks. Ticks thrive in cool, moist environments with plenty of shaded cover such as shady areas with tall grass or low shrubs; deer and rodents like raccoons also frequent these conditions, bringing ticks from surrounding woodland areas directly onto your lawn or garden.
Ticks can lay up to 15,000 eggs at once, which makes effective tick control an absolute necessity. Ticks pose an extreme threat to humans because they carry bacteria that cause Lyme disease as well as several other tick-borne illnesses like ehrlichiosis, babesiosis and spotted fever rickettsiosis – three diseases caused by tick bites!
Prevent tick habitats by keeping your yard clear of debris, brush and leaf litter. Mowing regularly at 3-inch height is also highly recommended to maintain a safe and welcoming environment for ticks.
In addition, the CDC suggests creating a 3-foot wide barrier of wood chips, gravel or mulch between wooded borders and your lawn in order to minimize tick migration while speeding up drying times for areas you mowed more regularly.
Planting native trees, bushes and ground covers while avoiding fast-growing invasive species helps your property be less inviting for ticks. Deer-resistant species like scotch pine, boxwood, American holly and daffodils may help deter ticks. Local extension agencies or nurseries may have suggestions tailored specifically for your region. Neem oil can also be an effective natural remedy against ticks; simply mix with water in a spray bottle before applying neem oil along the edges or near shrubs to deter ticks from entering.
