To effectively treat your yard for ticks and reduce the risk of tick bites, follow these expert-recommended steps:
Creating a Tick-Safe Yard
- Mow your lawn regularly: Keep grass short to reduce tick habitat, as ticks prefer tall grass and shaded areas
- Remove leaf litter and debris: Clear away leaves, brush, and wood piles where ticks can hide and breed
- Prune shrubs and bushes: Trim vegetation to prevent ticks from extending into walkways where people and pets pass
- Create dry barriers: Use gravel or wood chips around the perimeter of your yard to create dry, hot zones that ticks avoid
- Limit ground cover: Reduce dense ground cover and keep garden beds clean and dry to make the environment less hospitable to ticks
- Discourage deer and wildlife: Keep deer, a primary host for ticks, out of your yard with fencing or deterrents
Chemical and Biological Treatments
- Perimeter pesticide treatments: Apply insecticides containing bifenthrin or permethrin mainly to shady, leaf-covered areas, yard perimeters, and along trails. These chemicals are effective and degrade quickly in soil, minimizing environmental impact. Two applications, mid-May and mid-June, with a possible fall treatment, are recommended for best results
- Use granular insecticides: Products like Sevin Insect Killer Lawn Granules can be spread over the lawn to kill ticks
- Nematodes: Beneficial nematodes can be applied to soil to kill tick larvae naturally without harming pets or pollinators
- Natural repellents: Plant tick-repelling herbs such as lavender, lemon balm, marigolds, mint, and garlic in your yard. Essential oils like cedar, lemongrass, peppermint, and lemon eucalyptus also repel ticks but require frequent application
Additional Tips
- Avoid spraying pesticides indiscriminately over the entire yard; target shaded, moist areas where ticks thrive
- Hire a licensed professional pest control applicator for safe and effective pesticide application
- Treat clothing and outdoor gear with permethrin for personal protection when spending time outdoors
By combining habitat modification, targeted pesticide use, biological controls, and natural repellents, you can significantly reduce tick populations in your yard and lower the risk of tick-borne diseases for your family and pets
