4 Best Practices to Keep Flea and Ticks Away From Your Yard

Who doesn’t want to enjoy warm, inviting summer days and evenings? Grilling out on the patio can build memorable moments with family and friends. Throwing the ball with the kids or the dog gets everyone outside enjoying the fresh air. This is your home landscape, and you want to enjoy it. 

What you don’t want during these times outside are unwanted guests … and we’re not talking about nosy neighbors. We’re talking about small, pesky insects that are eyeing you and your family members as meals – not that steak you’re grilling. 

Yep, we’re talking about fleas, and ticks. These pests are not welcome in your yard. They are annoying and stressful and they interrupt good times. And they can also carry some pretty nasty diseases. No one wants to deal with those issues. 

You could douse yourself with bug spray and sweat while wearing multiple layers of clothing, but you still might not be able to keep them away. 

Let’s learn more about these pests and discuss tips in Northeast Ohio for treating your yard for fleas and ticks. 

Flea Facts 

Spotting fleas – or those jumping black bugs that feed on blood – on your dog’s fur or your favorite living room couch is never a welcome site. 

While fleas in your yard seem tiny, they actually carry quite a large potential for problems. Knowing a bit about them can help you maximize flea control in your yard. 

At 2.5 millimeters in length, fleas are hard to spot, so they can easily hide in pet beds, carpets, furniture, and mattresses. Fleas may seem small, but they can consume 15 times their own body weight in blood.

While fleas only live about 3 months long, females can actually produce 500 new fleas during this time. 

In your yard, fleas enjoy moist air where it’s a bit cool, such as wood and leaf piles, and under grasses, shrubs, and plants. 

Flea-borne typhus can be spread to people if they contact infected fleas. Fleas become infected when they bite animals with the disease. Fleas can also transmit plague and tularemia.

Tick Facts

You’re not alone if you worry about ticks in Northeast Ohio, especially as tick-borne illnesses are rising. 

But you might search the internet and find some conflicting facts about ticks. 

In this area, there are some specific tick species you’ll find most often, including the American dog tick, the brown tick, and the deer or blacklegged tick. The blacklegged tick is most worrisome here because it carries lyme disease. Dog ticks can spread Rocky Mountain spotted fever and ehrlichiosis. 

Ticks feed on human and animal blood, and they need this blood to grow through their four life stages (egg, larva, nymph, and adult). If they don’t get blood, they die. 

Ticks  don’t jump or fly. They actually crawl up on tall weeds and grasses and use their third and fourth pairs of legs to hold on and reach out their front legs to wait for hosts to pass by so they can latch on.

Ticks can transmit more diseases than any other blood-sucking pest. Lyme disease is the most concerning disease that can be transmitted by ticks. While a person’s chances of contracting lyme disease from a tick can range from 0% to 50%, limiting tick exposure is the best strategy for avoiding lyme disease. This is why treating your yard for fleas and ticks is so important. 

4 Ways to Get Rid of Fleas and Ticks In Your Yard 

Treating your yard for fleas and ticks includes a variety of tips and tricks for prevention and control. 

The process starts with some outdoor maintenance, and if your infestation is larger, may require some treatments by a professional pest control company. 

Try these tips to ensure reduced flea and tick populations in your yard. 

#1. Trim Overgrown Plants

Lots of tall grasses and vegetative brush near your home are key places where fleas and ticks like to hang out. 

This is why tick control and flea control in your yard includes trimming tall grasses and properly managing any overgrowth. This task is especially important to do at your property’s border edges, particularly if your home landscape backs up to woods or a prairie or preserve where other wild animals may hang out or find shelter. 

You want to limit grassy overgrowth around places your family likes to hang out, too, such as patios, playgrounds, or around fire pits.

#2. Regularly Mow Your Grass 

Lawn treatment for fleas and ticks also involves mowing your lawn on a regular basis. 
Fleas and ticks prefer all sorts of tall grasses – your lawn included. 

During the growing season, you want to mow your lawn weekly, keeping it to a 3- to 4-inch height. This will help discourage fleas and ticks from hanging out too close to your home where your family, friends, and pets are most often present.

#3. Keep Wild Animals Out of Your Yard

Fleas and ticks can also get close to you and your family members by traveling in on small mice and rodents or even squirrels or other small mammals – and even some larger ones like deer.

By keeping your lawn mowed and other tall grasses trimmed, you discourage these potential flea and tick carriers from taking up residence in your yard. 

The other thing you can do concerning tick control and flea control in your yard is keep your trash secure with tightly sealed lids so you’re not drawing mammals in.  

#4. Opt For Lawn Treatments for Fleas and Ticks  

Even if you follow all of the prevention tips, fleas and ticks may still find their way to your yard or home. 

This is where treating your yard for fleas and ticks can make a huge difference. 

Professional flea and tick control treatments can target these pests that have entered your property despite your best attempts at keeping them at bay. 

Turf Pride uses a liquid spray on the lawn four times a year to keep fleas and ticks away. Treatments start in mid-April and run through August, spaced out about four to six weeks apart to keep up that defense. For customers with heavy wood lines, Turf Pride recommends additional tick treatments to control those heavier pest populations. 

Why Professional Flea and Tick Control Services Are Worth It

While you might be trying to combat fleas and ticks on your own, the process can feel like it takes over your summer. And your time is limited. In addition to work and family responsibilities, you’d like to have a little fun in the summer sun. Who wouldn’t? 

An option you might want to consider is hiring a professional who has experience with killing fleas and ticks in your yard. They can save you time, money, and energy in the bug battling process, leaving you some days and evenings for enjoyment while eliminating your problem pests. 

Ready to learn why Turf Pride could be your choice for flea and tick treatments in Northeast Ohio? We’re excited to learn more about you and help you eliminate your pest problems once and for all. Get started today with a free quote. Together, we can prepare a customized plan that is perfect for you and your yard.