| How to Get Rid of Ticks Around Your Home Sep 18th 2012, 02:00 Ticks in your garden and around your home can be a nuisance for you, your family, and your pets. Ticks can carry numerous harmful blood-borne diseases such as Lyme Disease and some diseases transferred from ticks can kill your pets. This guide will explain how to get rid of as many ticks as possible from around your house. - Learn what ticks prefer by way of habitation. Ticks can be found in grassy, bushy areas often sheltered with trees and shade. They like high humidity. They also favor the same places favored by one of the tick's favorite meals––deer. So any time you're out in tall grasses, or hiking in the woods, you're in enemy territory. The first thing to do is discourage ticks from taking up residence in your home territory.
- Destroy tick habitats. Start by getting rid of any tick-friendly foliage. The best way to do this is keep your yard trimmed regularly and to remove all dead, scraggly and overgrown vegetation. Avoid allowing grass to overgrow, and remove vines and other plants that tend to create bushy, clumped or grass-like environments. Moreover, since ticks are like vampires—they drink blood––they also hate the sun. Use that as your guide when removing plants, so as to the let the sun into as many parts of your yard as possible.
- Mow the grass frequently. Regular mowing deprives ticks of tall grass, and lets the sun shine in—–which not only keeps the bugs at bay, it also evaporates that morning dew quickly, depriving ticks of water, too.
- Clear your yard of brush and dead leaves. If the ticks can't live in the grasses, they'll find shade somewhere. Damp and dark, brush and dead leaves—–especially dead leaves—–are tick heaven. Don't allow piles of vegetation to build up anywhere in your yard.
- Clear tall grasses from around your house and lawn. Use an edger to create a barren zone that ticks will be loathe to cross on their own. They'll have to hitch a ride on a passing deer and hopefully you're keeping them out of your yard too (see next).
- Fence your yard. Fencing your yard will prevent larger animals, such as deer or coyotes, from passing through your backyard. Ticks travel on mammals, so keeping the larger ones out will help control the tick population in your yard. Besides, deer will chomp on your garden, and coyotes will chomp on your cats. Both are about as desirable as ticks.
- Keep firewood stacked neatly and in a dry location. Like brush and dead leaves, firewood can be home to darkness and moisture. Keeping it stacked in a dry location again denies the ticks their safe haven, and it will make your firewood nice and dry when it's time to use it next winter!
- Don't let the kids play in known tick areas. Make sure they play in areas and using equipment that are located well away from high grasses or trees. If the swing set has grass growing around the legs of the set, get that weed whacker over there and start trimming!
- Clean thoroughly underneath bird feeders. Ticks can nest under feeders undisturbed––by cleaning regularly you make it undesirable for them.
- Check yourself for ticks. Regularly check yourself and your children and pets, especially after an outdoor session playing or hiking. Look for any ticks in the hairline, under arms, on legs—–all over. Remove them with a pair of tweezers.
- Kill them all. Use approved and known safe pesticides in late spring to early summer, to prevent ticks from populating your lawn. A single treatment of your yard in late May or early June can cut the tick population by over 50 percent. Be sure to only use pesticides approved for use in your area against ticks, and only use them according to the label. Some good ones are pesticides with lambda-cyhalothrin and Esfenvalerate.
- Make a natural tick repellent. You can make a non-toxic tick repellent at home for your loved ones. Get a 16-ounce (475ml) spray bottle and start spraying!
- Create a citrus based repellant. Ticks avoid citrus, which makes it an effective weapon. To make: Boil 2 cups of water, and add two chopped lemons, limes, oranges, or grapefruit—–alone or in combination. Let it boil for a minute or so, then simmer the concoction for an hour. Strain the fruit out, let it cool, pour into the sprayer, and squirt it on you, your kids, your pets, your yard—–anywhere ticks might like to go.
- Other natural repellents use geranium, lavender, or peppermint essential oils. These are not safe for cats though, so avoid spraying the cat.
- Ticks tend to survive best in damp, wooded areas, but do not do well in places that are bright and dry. Keep this in mind when landscaping and caring for your yard.
Edit Things You'll Need - Repellents
- Garden gear to cut and mow with
- Cleaning gear
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