5 simple steps to a TICK FREE yard

Recently I was bitten by a tick. I freaked out, called the doctor, got tested for Lyme’s Disease, but it came back negative… whew… that was a close call. Understanding that next time I might not be so lucky, I did some research on tick identification and diseases, found some resources for protecting yourself, and decided that it was time to become proactive and tick free. Here are 5 simple steps to a tick free yard so you never have to go through the misery and the worry that I had to endure from just being bitten by a single tick.

There are only 3 areas you really have to concentrate on to rid your yard of ticks. Focusing on these 3 areas will increase the value of the time you spend with your family in your yard, help to keep you safe from ticks, and can be done as a family project.

Your 3 areas of focus and the 5 simple steps to a tick free yard:

Areas to focus on:

• Yard
• Family play areas
• Flower beds and gardens

Yard Areas –

Your yard should be a designated place for your family to play and grow. Keep it separated from any wooded areas by keeping the grass mowed. I know that sounds simple to say… but ticks like living in the tall grass where they drop off deer or other rodents and make their nest just waiting for you or your child to walk by. Get the kids involved by giving them some rakes and a trash bag to follow along as you keep the grass short and debris picked up. Places around your home where ticks might dwell include:

• Tall grass
• Garbage can areas
• Weed patches
• Under trees or bushes (leaf litter)

Keep the grass mowed and use the weed-wacker to keep that tall grass low to reduce the areas around your yard where ticks live to make it a tick free yard. Additionally, get the kids involved to clean up around garbage cans that might draw rodents such as mice, rats, raccoons, or opossums (which can carry ticks) and make certain the garbage can lids are secure. As a family you can put some decorative stone under yard trees or bushes (ticks don’t like the rocky surfaces) and rake up any leaves, small branches, or dead weeds under and around your trees and bushes. Also… any places where water might pool are excellent breeding grounds for mosquitoes AND ticks (they like moisture) so dump the water, have the kids help put rocks or dirt in puddles (the best you can), and do whatever you can to try to reduce the ticks drawn to these moist areas.

Family play areas –

A tick free yard is a fun yard and family play time should not result in the fear of being bitten by a tick, Lyme’s Disease, or even Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Play time should be an enjoyable way to burn off energy, grow, learn, and bond. Play areas such as swing sets, a tire swing, picnic table, or a nice relaxing hammock should be placed over a bed of wood chips in a nice sunny area. Ticks do not like the sun so they retreat to places to hide. Keep family play areas at least 10-15 feet from wooded areas. Use a light colored or white woven hammock material and trim dead branches on that tree above. Spraying the hammock, picnic table benches, or tire swing rope with some DEET will help keep all the bugs away including fleas and ticks.

If you are worried about picnicking in the sun, I cut a hole in the middle of my picnic table and installed a lovely umbrella. Here’s one similar that I got from Amazon (and a few others I considered). I absolutely love… love… love it…

Flower beds and gardens –

We all love a beautiful yards with gorgeous flower beds in the front AND back yard, however, ticks are drawn to dark moist areas and will often fall off the rodents or deer that are attracted to these beautiful beds as well. As I said previously, keeping garbage areas clean will help reduce ticks being transported into your yard on mice, raccoons, etc… but bird feeders will also draw these tick transporters in. Flowerbeds lined in decorative river gravel, pebbles, or other types of stone will keep ticks away and reduce the likelihood they will use these areas a highway to your house. Three feet in depth from the house, tree line, or around a tree is acceptable. Although I would be obligated to tell you that bird feeders should be kept away from the house because of dropped seeds attracting rodents, I just can’t bring myself to remove them. Therefore try to place your bird feeders over a patch of decorative stone such as in a flower bed or a nearby tree.

Plant flowers and trees that deer do not like –

Deer bring many ticks (especially the tick that carries Lyme’s Disease) into your yard. If you can’t build a deer fence around your yard, plant species that won’t attract deer.

There are many deer resistant plants but here some of the most common and decorative:

• Barberry
• Butterfly bushes
• Boxwood
• Catnip
• Daffodils
• Forget-me-nots
• Bleeding Hearts
• Sage
• Heather
• Lavender
• Lemon balm
• Lily of the Valley
• Mimosa
• Oregano
• Snap Dragons
• Tarragon
• Thyme
• Wild Ginger
• Yucca

These are just a some of many that were rated by Rutger’s University in an experiment testing deer attraction and damage. You can see the entire list by visiting their article Landscape Plants rated by deer resistance.

So follow these 5 simple steps to a tick free yard:

1. Keep your yard maintained (mowed and garbage lids secure),
2. Keep leaf litter and debris cleaned up,
3. Put wood chips under family play areas,
4. Separate areas by decorative rocks (river gravel, pebbles, etc), and
5. Plant deer resistant plants, trees, and shrubs.

One last thing you can do to help yourself to a tick free yard….

Get yourself some chickens… if you can. It doesn’t matter if you have a house in the Suburbs or are living on Semi-Rural Homestead (such as ours), Chickens are worth more than their weight in eggs. Chickens may not be one of the 5 simple steps to a tick free yard but… they aren’t a bad idea. Chickens eat ticks and they can devour hundreds of ticks an hour. They are egg laying… tick eradicating… little yard birds. So if you have the room, like eggs, and see the beauty in these lovely little girls, get yourself some hens. They will help you and the kids reduce ticks in the yard AND give you yummy eggs every day. That is definitely a WIN-WIN…

So remember… If you focus on the areas of your yard, family play areas, flowerbeds, and gardens where ticks are most likely to hide… and if you follow these common guidelines, you will be taking the 5 simple steps to a tick free yard that the whole family will enjoy.

Stay safe.

Susan 😊

References:

Drake, D., Nitzsche, P., Perdono, P. (et al). (2020). Landscape plants rated by deer resistance. New Jersey Agricultural Experimental Station Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Web. Retrieved May 15, 2020 from https://njaes.rutgers.edu/deer-resistant-plants/