Are you wondering how to get rid of ticks in the yard? The best way to prevent an infestation is to make your yard less attractive to these parasites by mowing the lawn regularly and removing any piles of leaves or debris where ticks and their hosts can hide.
How to Get Rid of Ticks in the Yard
Yard Modification
Ticks are only after two things — a welcoming habitat and blood meals — and they may be carried to your yard from a host animal. If your yard is attracting other animals, too, such as pets, rodents, birds or deer, that’s just more incentive for the ticks.
Contrary to what many people believe, ticks don’t live on their hosts. They attach to their hosts while they eat, then drop to the ground when they are done. They find hosts by waiting for one to conveniently walk by — often positioning themselves on a long blade of grass, in leaf debris or in overgrown shrubs. Help keep ticks and their hosts away making the following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yard modifications:
- Remove leaf litter.
- Clear tall grasses and brush around your home and at the edge of the lawn
- Place a 3-ft wide barrier of wood chips or gravel between your lawn and wooded areas to create a barrier for transition zones between your well-manicured lawn and wooded or tall grass areas.
- Mow the lawn frequently.
- Stack wood neatly and in a dry area (to discourage rodents).
- Keep playground equipment, decks and patios away from your yard edges and trees.
- Discourage unwelcome animals (such as deer, raccoons and stray dogs) from entering your yard by constructing fences.
- Remove old furniture, mattresses or trash from the yard that may give ticks a place to hide.
Tick Treatment for Yard
If ticks have already settled into your yard, you may need to take additional measures, like applying a treatment to tick-infested areas. Because there are many factors to consider, such as the rules and regulations regarding applications on residential properties, your best line of defense is to work closely with a professional tick control company.
Pesticides should be applied to areas where ticks are commonly found, such as the border of woodland areas, yard ornaments and stonewalls. Treatment for nymphal black-legged ticks may be the most effective during mid-May and mid-June, before populations reach their peaks. To combat adult ticks, have a tick control professional treat your yard in the fall, as well. This is because some species of ticks can be active anytime when temperatures are above 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
Our professionals at Terminix® are trained and experienced to handle ticks and other pests. They can inspect your yard free of charge and create a customized treatment plan based on what they find. Don’t wait to find a tick before you take action. Contact Terminix today to help get rid of ticks as quickly as possible.
