What To Do About Ticks In Your Yard

Ticks are creepy, dangerous, and hard to spot. Nothing is worse than coming inside from a fun day outside and finding a tick on your scalp or back. Understandably, you may struggle with what to do about ticks in your yard.

You can protect your yard from ticks if you put mulch around the perimeter of your lawn. Mow your lawn weekly and keep it under 3” tall to discourage ticks from seeking shade. Make sure to trim your shrubs and trees in early spring to remove hiding spots that ticks typically flock to.

Tick Control Tubes are effective tick traps that look like mouse nesting spots and quickly kill ticks. Follow along as we explore what to do about ticks in your yard.

Why Are There So Many Ticks In My Yard?

Ticks are attracted to debris, dense grass, trees, heat, and moisture. Yards with tall trees and grass are most likely to have ticks, even if you can’t see them. The Midwest and West Coast parts of the country are especially prone to tick problems.

You are most likely to find ticks in your yard between spring and early fall. By September, your yard isn’t warm and moist enough for ticks. That said, you shouldn’t let your guard down when it gets cold, as ticks can emerge if the ground temperature is at least 45 degrees Fahrenheit.

However, you are always vulnerable to ticks if you live in warm states, such as California. Houses near the woods and surrounded by trees commonly have tick problems. Tall trees and dense bushes provide perfect hiding spots for ticks, and that’s why they hang around your house.

How To Keep Ticks Out Of Your Yard

There is no way to completely keep ticks out of your yard if you live in an area with a big tick population. However, you can use several tips to reduce your tick problem, such as:

1. Protect Your Yard With Mulch

Not only does mulch encourage healthy plant growth, but it can also protect your yard against ticks. Mulch gets hot enough during summer that ticks won’t want to cross it. This effectively creates a figurative wall that ticks aren’t willing to go around.

Granted, this is only effective when it’s hot and the mulch is dry, but it’s a great start. Spring is the best time of the year to lay mulch. However, you can also apply mulch in the fall, and it should stay strong for up to 6 years.

2. Clean Your Yard

Messy lawns and treelines are enticing to ticks. They love to find spots with lots of cover so they can hide and wait to latch onto their prey. Everything from dead leaves, weeds, grass clippings, and fallen sticks can attract ticks to your yard.

Create a yard cleanup checklist and declutter your lawn. It doesn’t take long and it is worth it to discourage ticks from hanging around. It’s a great idea to wear long pants and tall socks when you do this. That way, you won’t be as vulnerable to tick bites, but you should still check your body when you’re done.

3. Trim Your Trees And Shrubs

Ticks love nothing more than dense trees and shrubs. They are great hiding spots for ticks because it makes them hard to find, and trees and shrubs protect ticks from heat. Ticks may love warmth, but they hate extreme heat.

You can remove these hiding spots and expose the ticks to heat if you trim your trees and shrubs. Make sure to wear a long-sleeve shirt, long pants, and a hat to protect yourself when you trim the trees. Otherwise, you can hire a professional service to prune your trees for you. Make sure to tell them about the tick problem so they can protect their skin.

4. Mow Your Lawn Frequently

The taller your grass is, the more likely it is that ticks are hiding in it. Tall grass provides lots of shade, and it also retains moisture for a long time. Those are two things that ticks love, so you must maintain a well-maintained lawn so ticks aren’t drawn to it.

Mow your lawn every 7 to 10 days and keep it 2” to 2 ½” tall. You can let it reach 3”, but it’s risky to let your grass get any taller than that. Try not to leave grass clippings on your lawn, as they can provide shade and cover to ticks.

5. Set Out Tick Control Tubes

Believe it or not, you can trap ticks in your yard. Tick Control Tubes are simple contraptions that trap ticks so they don’t spread throughout your lawn. These traps are meant to contain ticks that would otherwise prey on mice.

They are meant to look like the material that mice use to nest and reproduce. Ticks target the nesting spots of mice because mice are among their most common prey. Once inside, the pesticide within the tube will kill the ticks.

This is a slow but steady way to eradicate the ticks in and around your yard. They are cheap, and you will have the best results if you put as many of them as possible at the edge of your yard and surrounding woods.

6. Keep Deer Out Of Your Yard

Ticks frequently prey on deer who unknowingly spread them to people’s yards. Luckily, it’s easy to keep deer away from your yard with a few simple tricks. For example, ultrasonic devices emit sounds that deer hate, and it can repel them.

You can even naturally repel deer with garlic, cayenne pepper, fennel, lavender, and other aromatic herbs and spices. Otherwise, you can simply crumble some deodorant and scatter it along the edge of your yard. The outermost edge of your lawn is where both deer and ticks are most likely to be.

Some people put hedges in to keep deer away, but that can backfire. Ticks love hedges, especially if they’re tall and dense, so that’s a bad idea. You’re better off hanging wind chimes and putting ultrasonic devices on the ground.

7. Use Permethrin

Permethrin is one of the few insecticides that works well to kill ticks. The problem with insecticides is that they don’t always work for long, and they can wash away easily. That’s why it’s important to check the weather and soil moisture before you apply permethrin.

Make sure to apply it thoroughly and focus on the underside of dense shrubs. Granted, you may need to apply permethrin several times between spring and fall for the best results. Keep in mind that this isn’t an ironclad cure for your tick problem. You must also maintain a clean lawn and yard to keep ticks away.

Summing It Up

The best way to keep ticks out of your yard is to regularly mow your lawn and keep it clean. Lay down some mulch around the perimeter of your yard to stop ticks from crossing it. It also helps to set out Tick Control Tube traps and spray the edge of your lawn with permethrin.

Related Guides:

• Does Mowing The Lawn Kill Ticks?
• Bed Bug Vs. Tick: How to Tell the Difference