Create a Tick-safe Zone in your Yard

Last week I wrote a post on how to remove a tick from your dog. With the warm weather here in New Jersey ticks have become much more active. Below are things that you can do to try to decrease or hopefully eliminate the number of ticks in your yard.

The first thing we always do is keep our lawn cut and never let it get to high. Ticks loves hiding in tall grass. They love the moisture that’s why it’s important to keep your lawn cut at all times. Prune your trees and cut back your shrubs. Ticks hate the sun and again love to hide where there is moisture.

Also, if you have piles of wood and/or mulch get rid of it. Keeping your yard clean and free of debris will eliminate hiding spots for these nasty little creatures.

If you do like to use mulch, consider using cedar. Cedar wood chips are an especially good choice because they repel many insect pests. You can also place cedar mulch along the edges of your yard to form a barrier.

Sprinkle a barrier around your home with some type of treatment. I love to use Diatomaceous Earth and let me tell you, it works! I love to use this as its natural and with my boarding dogs I never have to worry if they come in contact with it.

If you don’t know what Diatomaceous Earth, it’s a chalk-like powder that is made up entirely of these diatoms that have fossilized over thousands of years. Although safe for humans, it is extremely harmful to insects yet contains no toxins of any kind. It sticks to insects and robs moisture away from their exoskeletons, fatally dehydrating them. Under a microscope, it looks like shards of glass and it kills all bugs. DE is safe enough to sprinkle on your pet as well as, on their bedding.

A couple of years I had an ant problem in my kitchen.  I would find loads of them trailing up my kitchen window and couldn’t for the life of me figure out where they were coming from.  I started spreading DE around the border of my house every spring. I think this year I only found 2. You can even spread it around the barrier of your yard in case ticks try to move in from next door.

If you decide to use DE, it’s a very dusty substance so use a face mask as you don’t want to inhale it. Also when it rains you will have to reapply it and always make sure that you purchase FOOD-GRADE Diatomaceous Earth.

You can also make your yard friendly to critters that eat ticks. Birds eat them but if you are going to put up a bird feeder make sure squirrels can’t get to them. Ticks like to jump on squirrels and mice, so keep your yard clean as to avoid them.  Opossums are known to devour ticks. I had no idea about this until I came across a Facebook post. It is estimated that in one season, an opossum can kill about 5,000 ticks. You can read this article called, Opossums – killers of ticks by clicking here.

Lastly, you can treat your pets. I know many people don’t like to do this.  I like to treat Ginger from May to October and have used Frontline Plus for Fleas and Ticks, it has worked for her and she has never had an issue with it.  You can discuss this with your Vet to see what the best option would be for  your pet as there are many other types of products on the market.