Help Keep Ticks Out Of Your Yard With This Simple Landscaping Fix

Ticks are an inevitable part of enjoying the outdoors –- but that doesn't mean you have to live with the risk of tick bites and the diseases they may spread. One simple way to help protect yourself and your family is by maintaining a clean, well-kept yard. This can reduce the hiding spots and habitats where ticks thrive.

The best way to do that is to create a designated space as free from ticks as possible for you to enjoy. Think: sunshine, clear paths, and mowed lawns. Unfortunately, a change in seasons can't protect you; as long as it's above freezing outside, there is still a risk that ticks are active. These tiny hitchhikers love to hide in common landscape features such as shady areas, stone walls, and ground cover brush. They also thrive in piles of dead leaves and other yard debris. Hence, step one is to get it clean.

Make sure your lawn is mowed evenly and frequently, and eliminate all the tall grasses along your pathways. These act like ladders for ticks to climb and find a host to catch a ride on. Weeds are next; trim those garden beds, clear fence and building edges, and keep weeds from overgrowing underneath trees. Learn how to identify tick nests in your yard to help target problem areas when clearing weeds.

Mowing? Check. Weeding? Check. Step two is to tackle the other places ticks can linger. Low-hanging tree branches, bushes, or foliage that meet the ground and offer a spot to scale (another personal ladder for ticks) have to be trimmed. Sunshine is your best weapon to help prevent ticks from spreading. The more sunlight, the better. This goes for areas around backyard decks, porches, and patios, as well. Clear out dead or overgrown spots, rake up the leaves, and be aware of the species of plants in your yard. Certain ground coverings are like magnets for ticks, including ivy. Replacing plants or simply pruning them back can make a huge difference.

Step three is optional because it's a little more work, but it makes your yard look nice. It's the prevention of future weeds and wild grasses. A way to suppress unwanted plants and ensure vegetation is kept in check is with mulch. You can help keep ticks out with common wood mulch around the edges of your garden beds.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, using a 3-foot-wide barrier of mulch between woods and hiking trails can reduce ticks. The same rules apply to the backyard (ticks don't know the difference). Mulch is drier, helps prevent the weeds ticks use to hide and climb, plus these pests don't like to cross it without their moist, green bridges.