Summertime barbecues and cookouts are weekly activities in your Maryland yard. Who doesn’t love a freshly grilled steak or a juicy burger on a bun toasted with those perfectly symmetrical sear marks?
While you’re focused on your menu and tasty dinner plans, you certainly don’t want to have to worry about ticks, especially when mosquito-borne illnesses are on the rise – from West Nile virus to Lyme disease.
As you’re grilling, constantly checking your legs and shoes for these small, dark pests is pretty annoying. But how do you know if you, your family, or pets aren’t constantly venturing into tick-infested grasses every time you go outside? If you’re seeing ticks pretty regularly, you might start to wonder how bad it is.
Let’s look at signs that signal your yard is infested with ticks and what to do about ticks in your yard.
Help! My Yard Is Infested With Ticks
There’s nothing more frustrating than cutting down your outdoor time because ticks are on the rampage.
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Blood-sucking ticks spread diseases by feeding on the blood of animals and people. This is what actually enables them to grow and progress through their four different life stages. Without blood, ticks usually die.
How do you know if your landscape has a tick problem? Let’s look at some reasons why your yard is infested with ticks and what you can do about it.
Wild Animals Are Often In Your Yard
As you’re checking to see if your yard is infested with ticks, it’s important to notice what types of wildlife are regularly in your yard.
If you see quite a few deer, raccoons, skunks, or foxes, it’s a good sign you also have ticks present. Why? Because these animals are big carriers of ticks, so if they are in your yard, ticks are coming with them.
Does Your Yard Border Woods or Grassy Areas?
If your property backs up to woods or tall grasses or even nature preserves, chances increase that your yard is infested with ticks.
This is because these types of outdoor environments are key habitats for ticks and tick breeding, as well as tick-carrying animals.
You Actually See Ticks Regularly
Another big sign you have a tick problem in your yard is a pretty obvious one.
If you are finding ticks on you, your family members, or pets fairly often when they come in from being outside, this could be a signal that your yard is infested with ticks.
How to Get Rid of Ticks In Your Yard
Ticks can be a pain, but you don’t have to deal with them forever.
Here’s what to do about ticks in your yard in Maryland.
1. Mow Your Lawn Regularly
Ticks like to reside in taller grasses, so it’s essential not to neglect proper lawn care.
Keep your lawn to a 3 to 4 inch height, which means mowing it weekly during the prime growing season.
Eliminating their hangouts helps banish ticks.
2. Organize Your Yard With Ticks in Mind
If your property backs up to woods or nature preserves, Try to keep swing sets, dog houses, fire pits, and other places where you enjoy time with your family away from your property edges.
This will reduce your exposure to these blood-sucking pests and is a key strategy in terms of what to do about ticks in your yard.
3. Keep Wildlife Out of Your Yard
Ticks can get closer to your family members and yard when they travel in on deer and other smaller mammals.
By mowing your lawn and trimming larger plants, you naturally discourage these tick carriers from hanging out in your yard. This is one more step on your question for how to get rid of ticks in your yard.
Also make sure you keep your trash bins sealed tightly and don’t store wood piles too close to your home.
4. Hire a Professional Tick Control Service
Another strategy on the list of what to do about ticks in your yard is hiring a professional pest control company to take care of the problem.
Experienced technicians who are certified, licensed and trained on tick control best practices in Central and Southern Maryland are the best because they can more quickly recognize these problems in your landscape and offer quick solutions.
Tick control applications are liquid based and products are applied to flower and shrub beds and other harborages, such as in tall grasses, under tree canopies, under decks or near wet areas on your landscape.
Natural Green Systems professionals apply tick control treatments every 30 days beginning in March when temperatures reach 50 degrees and ticks are more active. The last treatment usually happens in October.
While you may be tempted to try just one application, professionals recommend a minimum of three applications to ensure adequate tick control. Six applications is the best choice because tick control treatments last about 30 days, and you don't want to create a window for ticks to get back into your yard between treatments.
Let a Professional Help you Tackle a Yard Infested With Ticks in Central or Southern Maryland
Ticks are certainly nasty little pests that carry some pretty ugly diseases. You don’t want them hanging around in your backyard, ruining every chance you have to go outdoors.
Professional tick control is more effective than DIY methods when it comes to what to do about ticks in your yard. This ensures your problem is managed before pest populations increase.
If you think ticks might be present in your yard, give Natural Green Systems a call. We know the whole idea of fighting ticks can seem overwhelming, and we want to take that burden off of your hands and make it easy for you. We’ve been fighting ticks for years and know exactly how to battle them and keep them away.
Then all you have to worry about is enjoying your summer days outside – worry free.
Learn more about what it takes to eliminate ticks from your Central and Southern Maryland yard? Get started today with a free quote. We’ll review your options together so you can feel confident about your next steps. Then you can stop searching your kids and pets for pests and start living again.
