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Curious about eliminating ticks from your yard? Quite astute. If you’re contending with ticks indoors, there’s a strong likelihood…
Are you seeking a handful of straightforward, entirely natural, and remarkably efficient methods to eradicate ticks from your yard this year – and bid them farewell once and for all?
It’s astonishing how a diminutive insect can instigate such grave hazards for both pets and humans. Beyond the discomfort of a tick’s bite, it can harbor and disseminate a significant array of diseases.
Among the most noteworthy maladies transmitted by ticks through their bacterial bites is Lyme disease. This affliction can impact both animals and humans, manifesting in a myriad of ways. Its symptoms encompass anything from vexing rashes and flu-like complications to excruciating joint pain, itchiness, and overall bodily weakness.
However, the implications extend beyond just Lyme disease. In actuality, ticks harbor a multitude of additional ailments that they transmit to humans and other creatures. Unfortunately, each of these maladies comes accompanied by its own repertoire of unpleasant side effects and symptoms.
Given these perils and more, the eradication of ticks and their exclusion from the outdoor areas surrounding your abode stands as a paramount measure to safeguard you, your loved ones, and your beloved pets.
How to Get Rid of Ticks in Your Yard
While absorbing our comprehensive guidelines for eliminating ticks from your yard, you might find yourself slightly daunted by the number of tasks involved. Indeed, achieving a tick-free yard does entail a certain amount of effort. However, by executing the steps outlined below, you can ensure that ticks never become an issue in your yard.
Considering the reward of a tick-free yard, isn’t a bit of exertion well worth it? Without further ado, here’s the definitive checklist to fortify your yard against ticks once and for all.
Treat with natural tick killers
If you want to opt for something less toxic but still as effective, then you’re in luck: ticks are kind of like that one kid at school who seemed to be allergic to everything. There are a lot of natural tick killers and repellents to choose from…
Nematodes
Let’s start with turning the beast on the beast, though: beneficial nematodes. Alright, more like microscopic worm parasites than beasts, but still.
Nematodes are a catch-all cure for a great many bug problems in the yard.
Why? They actively seek out hosts to burrow into and eat from the inside out, then rinse and repeat. Like a Terminator with less articulated limbs and a more believable accent.
Essential Oils
Essential oils are another great all-natural method to start killing – and repelling – ticks in the yard. Cedar oil is an old favorite, which forms the basis of many effective and potent natural pesticides and repellents specifically geared toward tick eradication, like Wondercide’s Flea and Tick Control.
Rosemary oil is also a hugely effective natural active killer (a concoction of around 10% rosemary oil has been shown to kill ticks off with around the same ferocity as some of the toxic chemicals listed above) and even Rose Geranium oil, which can act as a fantastic repellent too.
The beauty of natural ingredients – especially the essential oils, many, many, many of which are effective in warding off ticks – is that you can save some cash by making your own DIY sprays. Just add around 90% water and the rest (10%) can be essential oils. It’s actually quite difficult to mess it up!
Create a tick barrier
Just as we talked about perhaps erecting a fence to keep out larger animals – you can apply the exact same logic for the ticks themselves: they have to come from somewhere, right? So stop them in their tracks.
Pebbles, rocks, or just a simple barrier of wood chips placed around your yard’s perimeter can create a strong enough physical barrier to keep ticks from actually entering your garden in the first place. Most likely because the dry material makes them dry out too much.
Now, obviously, you run the risk of actually attracting them if you use mulch or other natural elements – so this is a great opportunity to apply some of the tricks we’ve learned. Why not toss through a healthy supply of cedar wood chips? Maybe lace it with some of the pesticides or natural repellents – saturate it right through to make sure they won’t mistake the scent.
Get creative with it; as long as it’s sturdy enough to protect the confines/perimeter of your garden from roaming ticks. Plus, even if the odd tick does seem to find its way in, you’ll now be able to identify where from – making your pesticide blitzing a lot more specific.
Install tick tubes
No, this isn’t a painful medical procedure. Tick tubes are a kinda indirect way of killing off any ticks that are already living in your garden – but they are highly effective when used correctly.
Basically, you’re spiking your garden with poison, and then turning the little beasties’ most loved meal against them.
Tick tubes are filled with a pesticide-tipped bunch of cotton – usually Permethrin –, which is fatal for ticks who ingest the stuff. How do you get a tick to eat cotton? You don’t. You rely on the fact that cotton is an amazing tool for building nests and dens; so much so that any mice, squirrels or other foraging creatures that have a tick-target on their back will likely scurry away with the stuff.
In doing so, the chemical will rub onto and saturate their fur (causing no damage to the mammal, in case you’re worried). Any ticks foolish enough to piggyback that particular mouse is about to eat its last meal.
Although effective, tick tubes are not recommended as the sole method of tick eradication. There are plenty of warm-blooded critters that will just as soon ignore the tick tubes’ cotton which can still pose a threat of infestation to you and your pets.
Treat with tick pesticides
If you want to get a little more hands-on and direct with your tick killing then it’s time to take a look at harsher, faster-acting pesticides. Most of the products that you can find will not harm your yard or its plant life directly, but it’s worth keeping in mind if you start looking for alternatives.
Generally speaking, though, the three most popular and effective tick pesticides are our old friends Permethrin, Bifenthrin, and Esfenvalerate – which are all readily available in different concentrations, applications, and volumes online.
In terms of what type you choose, it’s really up to you but whichever you go with, concentrate on the areas that are most frequented by your pets or the wildlife that’s been wandering into your area. Good spots to target are under porches and stairs as well as other shady areas under trees and bushes.
Granule pesticides are fine and will work effectively on the ground areas – but remember that ticks like to get up higher than the ground to better position themselves for latching on to passing prey.
For this reason, most tick-killing experts (and there are experts out there, luckily for us) will recommend sprays instead. The main benefit is that you can cover much larger areas of land at once, plus you have the option of covering high-up leaves to truly eradicate the threat of ticks.
Note: if you decide to buy or look into other pesticides, make sure you’re using chemicals that are specifically designed for outdoor use. Indoor tick pesticides might work on the tick itself, but they’re much more likely to wash away when the weather hits and constant reapplication can become a costly business.
Get tidying!
Above all else, similar to the myriad of repulsive and unwelcome creepy crawlies that have become objects of our disdain in the modern era, ticks revel in our disorder and mess, particularly when it involves vegetation.
Ticks display shrewd cunning. They are not prone to actively hunting you down en masse and infiltrating your abode under the cover of night. Instead, they exhibit the patience of a saint when stalking their prey. Overgrown shrubs, trees, grasses, and neglected timber serve as their favored traps for surprising warm-blooded creatures.
Maintaining a regular schedule of grass-cutting is of paramount importance to eliminate potential breeding sites and hiding spots. It’s noteworthy that ticks thrive in humid and damp environments. The more overgrown your garden becomes, the greater the number of humid and stuffy nooks for ticks to inhabit. A simple act like a weekly mowing session can significantly enhance the yard’s freshness.
Furthermore, evaluate the proximity of yard debris to your dwelling. Are there plants extending onto the walls? Bushes encroaching upon pathways? Stacks of wood or disregarded logs positioned in close proximity to the structure? Take action to eradicate or, at the very least, meticulously manage these elements.
Woodpiles can foster a thriving breeding environment for both ticks and other creatures (more on this shortly), while the vegetation furnishes ideal hiding spots for ticks lying in ambush. Picture a well-trafficked zone adorned with overhanging foliage – under such conditions, a tick could dine like royalty.
Keep wildlife out
Exercise firm authority over your yard: evict any unwelcome four-legged or winged inhabitants to the best of your abilities.
Remember the wood we just discussed? It’s a haven for rodents, and not just limited to mice: sizable creatures like raccoons, chipmunks, and even stray cats are drawn to such decaying wood due to the bountiful food it offers. After all, who can resist the occasional woodlouse treat?
The same goes for items that openly allure animals into your yard, like bird feeders or left-out bowls for your domestic pets. These items, by their very nature, become magnets for cunning wildlife in the vicinity. It’s a sure bet that many of these wild critters will come with a couple of tick hitchhikers in tow.
If you reside in a particularly bustling area, such as the countryside or near woods inhabited by agile Disney-esque critters who might stage a daring escape any night now, you might want to consider more substantial measures. Erecting a fence, for instance, can do wonders in deterring larger wildlife. Also, assessing the native plant species in your yard is worthwhile – could they potentially become a delectable meal for deer?
As it turns out, there’s much to ponder when it comes to altering a delicate ecosystem. It appears my assumption that we humans possess an innate talent for it was quite off the mark!
Keep it dry
Some areas of the world will find this tip a lot easier than others – if you live in an arid climate, where rainfall is sparse and it’s damn near impossible to grow a healthy lawn…You’re kind of in luck in a weird way.
Otherwise, for the rest of us suckers with perpetual rain ruining our gardens and mental outlook, we need to think of ways to manage it. If you have swampy areas of your garden that never seem to drain, then it could be worth having a professional take a look at drainage options: not just for the tick/insect/bug aspect, but for the myriad problems that can stem from a swampy yard.
Generally, you want to keep things on an even keel: not too wet, not too dry. Enough moisture for the place to survive and appear healthy but not enough that it will create a dingy, overly moist bed for ticks to curl up in.
Praise the sun!
Ticks like it shady because they’re shady creatures with shady business to do. This tip folds in with the overall rule of keeping the yard neat, trimmed, and clean – but consider maximizing the amount of direct sunlight that your yard gets.
Is it worth perhaps uprooting certain bushes or trees altogether? When was the last time you clipped those branches back a few feet?
Anything you can do to push back the literal shadows that hang over your yard will go a long distance in keeping the pesky little sods out.
