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What Are the Best Tips for Tick Control in a Yard?
Nicole Madison
Nicole Madison
Among the best tips a person may use when trying to control ticks in a yard are those that involve keeping grass and plants well trimmed to allow sunlight through to reduce humidity near the ground. Getting rid of debris and yard elements that attract animals may prove helpful as well. Additionally, a person may find tips involving the use of chemical pesticides to control ticks helpful.
One of the best tips for tick control in a yard is to start with the yard environment. This means taking steps to eliminate places in which ticks can hide and thrive. An individual can accomplish this by keeping the grass in his yard trimmed to a low height, about 3 inches (7.62 centimeters) at most. It may also prove helpful to keep hedges, trees, and other plants trimmed enough that sunlight can easily penetrate through them. This also helps to reduce humidity near the ground, which may serve to discourage ticks.
Debris provides good places in which ticks can hide, so removing it may help deter ticks. Some of the best tips for tick control in a yard involve getting rid of leaf piles and cutting back brush in and around the yard — even weeding can help. Interestingly, these efforts may prove beneficial not only for discouraging ticks, but also for discouraging the presence of some of the animals on which they feed. For this reason, it may also prove helpful to locate woodpiles and birdbaths to a far end of one's yard, away from the house, or get rid of them altogether.
Another tip for tick control in a yard involves discouraging the presence of wild animals that may attract or carry ticks. Such animals might enter an individual's yard because of the presence of food and garbage, for instance. For this reason, a person may do well to avoid placing pet food outdoors where the animals can have easy access to it. Likewise, using tightly lidded trash cans may make it difficult for the animals to feed on garbage and thus may help discourage their presence.
Pesticides may also prove helpful for tick control in a yard. There are many types of pesticides that are useful for tick control, and a person can choose based on the type of ticks he is dealing with and the parts of his yard he needs to treat. It is also critical to consider the chemical's effect on the environment as well as on human and animal health when making a choice. Additionally, an individual may find that some chemicals are only approved for use by licensed exterminators.
Nicole Madison
Nicole’s thirst for knowledge inspired her to become a WiseGEEK writer, and she focuses primarily on topics such as homeschooling, parenting, health, science, and business. When not writing or spending time with her four children, Nicole enjoys reading, camping, and going to the beach.
Learn more...
Nicole Madison
Nicole’s thirst for knowledge inspired her to become a WiseGEEK writer, and she focuses primarily on topics such as homeschooling, parenting, health, science, and business. When not writing or spending time with her four children, Nicole enjoys reading, camping, and going to the beach.
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![Ticks can transmit a number of serious diseases.]()
By: Carolina K Smith MDTicks can transmit a number of serious diseases. -
![Relocating woodpiles, or getting rid of them, may help control ticks.]()
By: memaRelocating woodpiles, or getting rid of them, may help control ticks. -
![Depending on their sex and type, ticks can expand to different sizes -- as big as a grape or as small as an apple seed -- when feeding on blood.]()
By: ViktorDepending on their sex and type, ticks can expand to different sizes -- as big as a grape or as small as an apple seed -- when feeding on blood.
Discussion Comments
I agree with the article where it says that trimming the grass is a good way to stay on top of the tick population in the yard. Trimming the grass regularly is good for tick control and bug control in general. Most bugs want to be in a place where they can remain covered from birds. Gathering the grass cutting in a grass catcher on the mower or ranking the clippings is also a good idea to control the bugs.
Before you go to the lawn and garden center and buy that fire ant killer this year, you should keep this in mind. Those biting, stinging, aggressive ants that build the large mounds all over your yard are actually good for something. They attack and eat bugs, and one of the bugs they eat is the tick.
I don't know which is worse, the tick or the fire ants but if you have a tick infestation and you have fire ant mounds in your yard then you might want to consider leaving at least a few of the ants to help you get rid of the ticks. This sounds like a good organic tick control method to me. Of course, if you are allergic to the fire ant stings then that might not be a good idea after all
When I think about the places I have lived and how difficult it was to control the ticks in my yard and on my pets, I notice that the worse places were the places where there were pine trees either in or near my yard.
After reading this article, I assume the ticks were drawn to the pine trees because the fallen pine needles gave them a lot of good hiding places. I guess that's another reason why you should rake up all the leaves and needles in your yard.
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