Taking Your Yard Back From Mosquitoes, Fleas, and Ticks

Summer should be a time when you feel comfortable lounging in your backyard, grilling with friends, or tending to your garden. If your backyard is infested with mosquitoes, fleas, and ticks, enjoying that space becomes difficult.

Whether you’ve just started to notice a few mosquitoes or your yard is completely overrun by fleas, here are a few ways to reclaim your outdoor space this summer.

Clean Up Extra Junk

Do you have extra lawn care equipment, toys, tires, or other items sitting in a pile anywhere on your property? These items provide the perfect breeding spots for mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas.

Water tends to collect in the indents of tires, on the tops of barrels, and in empty buckets — and mosquitoes then start breeding in the standing water. Once weeds start growing up around the items, fleas and ticks start breeding in these moist, shady areas. Throw away, recycle, or place extra items into proper storage, such as inside a garage or shed.

Tidy Your Garden Beds and Trim Along Fencelines

Garden beds are another favorite breeding spot for insects. Ticks and fleas love to hide and breed between overgrown weeds and the side of your home or fence. Mosquitoes may breed in pools of water hidden by tall weeds, or in clumps of moist leaves leftover from fall.

Plan a weekend to pull all weeds from your garden beds, fill in low spots, and put down a new layer of mulch to keep new weeds from growing.

Get on a Regular Mowing Schedule

If you typically wait until your grass looks long to mow it, you may be waiting too long. It only takes a few days for bugs to invade a long lawn. Ideally, you should mow the lawn when mowing will result in removing about one-third of the grass’s height. For most homeowners, this ends up being once or twice per week.

Fence Your Yard to Exclude Wildlife

Wildlife like deer, rabbits, and raccoons may bring fleas and ticks onto your property. Mosquitoes are also more likely to linger on your land if they have these animals to feed on when you’re not outside. If you live against a wooded area where wildlife is abundant, consider putting up a fence to exclude these animals.

If you’re unable to put a fence up between your land and the woods, try laying down a three-foot barrier of wood mulch along the edge of your property instead. The mulch won’t keep wildlife out of your lawn, but it will help prevent ticks from migrating directly from the woods into your lawn.

Have Yard Treated

If you are already noticing a lot of fleas, ticks, or mosquitoes on your land this year, your best bet is to have the lawn treated. There are products that treat mosquitoes, fleas, and ticks, along with other pesky insects like ants. These products are designed to be friendly to children, pets, and the planet.

Do not attempt to treat your yard on your own; always hire a professional. Based on the specific pests you’ve noticed and the characteristics of your yard, a professional will know which areas to focus on. To prepare your yard prior to their arrival, remove all clutter from the yard.

Mosquitoes, fleas, and ticks are the three backyard invaders you need to be most concerned about this time of year. But if you take matters into your own hands and follow the tips above, you can keep them at bay. Contact PermaTreat Pest and Termite Control to schedule an appointment for yard treatment or other services.