Spring is finally here in New England and it's time for a spring yard clean up to prepare for tick season!
Along with flowers and rain showers, female adult deer ticks emerge to lay thousands of eggs that will hatch later this year. Once new female ticks are born, they have a two-year life cycle ending after they lay thousands of eggs. Combined with wildlife, the two-year life cycle explains why some experience these creepy crawlers for the first time near a home they have lived in for years.
Beginning routine tick yard treatments in the early spring is beneficial for the whole season. These regular tick treatments kill adults and their eggs on contact, thus reducing the population this year and next.
Here are 5 ways to prepare your yard this spring, as part of a comprehensive natural mosquito and organic tick control approach:
- Schedule your first tick prevention spray treatment as soon as the snow is gone and the ground is unfrozen. This will kill fall’s leftover deer ticks, along with adult American dog ticks and Lone Star ticks that activate as temperatures begin to warm. We'd recommend looking for a pest control service company that provides a National Organic Program compliant product.
- Remove leaf litter and brush from around the property once snow melts, to disturb ticks from nesting. This is the preferred home for tick-infested areas in residential yards, so after the clean-up, be sure to put your clothes in the dryer and run it on high for 10 minutes to kill ticks that you might have picked up and carried inside.
- Treat all the areas in and around your property that you use, even paths and walkways. While deer ticks often stay in the brush perimeter of the property, other types of ticks may venture further in the yard.
- Control nymphal deer ticks that activate later in the spring around May. Tick spot treatments on the yard and the perimeter will control these tiny larval ticks, as they carry the Lyme disease bacteria and other tick-borne diseases.
- Deer can carry ticks onto your property, so deterring deer in early spring who come into residential areas in search of food wil help in effective tick prevention. Protect your plants with safe, organic spraying tick repellent, and also deer fencing is advisable, to teach deer who carry these pests onto your property that your yard is not a good, easy-to-access food source.
An unseasonable winter can lead to a very active spring season for ticks, raising the danger of tick-borne illnesses. Give us a call for more information, or to talk about natural tick control programs, as well as other natural yard care and pest control services we provide near you, across New England.
Are you finding ticks on your property? Download our free 'Tick Identification Card' to help you identify the life stage and species, and best environmentally-friendly options:
Happy Outdooring!
