Maintaining a well-groomed lawn will help reduce tick infestation on your land.
Related to spiders and mites, ticks are blood-feeding arthropods that act as carriers of serious maladies including Lyme disease, encephalitis and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. They are typically transported on animals including mice, dogs and deer, and easily attach themselves to human hosts as well. Outdoors, ticks thrive in warm, humid environments. While completely eradicating ticks on land would be virtually impossible, it is possible to reduce tick populations via habitat modification, physical barriers or chemical treatments. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
Eliminate Common Habitats for Ticks
1. Rake leaf litter, weeds and brush throughout the affected landscape to reduce the moist areas that attract ticks.
2. Mow your grass regularly and discard the clippings to eliminate moist ground cover that attracts and shelters ticks.
3. Ticks thrive in the moist shelter of groundcover such as moss and pachysandra.
Eliminate, trim or restrict groundcover and subshrubs including bushes and plants, which provide ideal shelter for tick populations.
Create Physical Barriers
4. Deer fencing can significantly reduce tick infestation related to local fauna.
Install deer fencing around the perimeter of your property to prevent deer and other wildlife from transporting ticks onto your land.
5. Design a living border around the perimeter of your property using species of plants and trees that are not attractive to deer. Juniper, rose and hydrangea shrubs are effective, as are hickory, Colorado spruce and black pine trees.
6. Install a three-foot border of gravel, mulch or wood chip between your land and surrounding wooded areas.
Apply Pesticides or Chemical Treatments
7. Spray a pesticide containing beta-cyfluthrin, bifenthrin, cyfluthrin, deltamethrin, esfenvalerate, permethrin, pyrethrins or tralomethrin around the yard perimeter and in any shady plant beds. Open, sunny lawns do not typically house ticks and will not need treatment.
8. Place tick tubes along the perimeter of the affected land. Bi-annual applications in the spring and summer are effective ways to attack tick populations during their larval and nymphal stages.
9. Apply a natural tick repellent, such as lemon eucalyptus oil, citronella or rose geranium essential oil, to the perimeter of the affected land. Anecdotal evidence suggests that these are safe alternatives to commercial pesticides.
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