Worrying about ticks can make it hard to enjoy your time outside. Though these pests are often spotted in yards, there are things you can do to keep them away. Your landscaping choices can help to prevent ticks from hanging out in your yard. Check out a few tips to make your yard unwelcoming to ticks.
Keep Your Plants & Lawn Trimmed
Ticks like to hide in overgrown vegetation and tall grass. Regularly mow your lawn to keep grass kept short, and trim your plants and shrubs. Keeping your lawn and plants trimmed will help to minimize hiding spots. Trimming back tree branches can also allow more sunlight to enter your yard. Since ticks like shaded areas, this can help to make your space less attractive.
Create a Physical Border
Ticks struggle to walk on rough surfaces. Adding mulch, gravel, or woodchips to the space between wooded or unmaintained areas and your lawn will make it harder for these pests to enter your yard. You can add these materials to garden beds to keep ticks away too. Placing a fence around your yard can also help to keep wildlife that could be carrying ticks out of your yard.
Create Pathways
Creating pathways in your yard can help to deter tick activity. Consider adding stone or gravel pathways from your house to play areas, gardens, or other commonly used spaces. Ticks will struggle to walk on these surfaces, making it harder for them to reach you. It will also keep you and your family out of the grass where ticks are likely to be seen.
Remove Harboring Spots
As you’re working on your yard, you’ll want to remove potential harboring spots. Remove brush, leaves, weeds, and grass clippings. If you have woodpiles, make sure you place them in a sunny part of your yard. This will help to keep them dry and less attractive to ticks. Store them off of the ground so that ticks can’t access them.
Avoid Using Groundcover Plants
Groundcover plants can make a nice addition to your yard, but they can also be attractive to ticks. These plants provide ticks with a shaded, damp environment. It’s best to avoid planting groundcover plants in areas where you plan on spending time. The same is true for low-hanging shrubs as well. Being mindful of the plants you choose can help to prevent tick problems.
Add Tick-Repelling Plants
Though ticks like to hide in plants, there are some plants that can actually help to repel them. Some plants have fragrances that naturally repel ticks and other pests. Adding these plants to your yard can help to keep ticks away. Ticks are known to avoid marigolds, rosemary, chrysanthemums, lemongrass, and lavender.
Keeping your yard free of ticks will make your time outside more enjoyable. With a few changes to your landscaping, you can help to keep these pests out of your yard. If you’re dealing with a tick problem, our Maggie’s Farm Simply Effective™ Pest Control products can help!