Ticks are tiny, little creatures that can cause some serious damage to us, and our environment. Other problems might not be as severe as them being carriers of Lyme disease. This infection causes fever and headache, and if not treated it can cause much more severe issues in the future. Some of these include acid reflux, joint pain, and even panic attacks. It is estimated that every other tick (50%) carries Lyme disease, and they infect 300,000 people every year in US alone.
Ticks feed by leeching on to your skin, burying themselves into it, and feeding on blood of their host. They live in animal fur, bird feather, and grass. Therefore, the most likely time for you to get a tick is springtime.
The diseases ticks carry cause vomiting, muscle cramps and pain, fever, etc. Tick carried diseases include Colorado fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tularemia, and ehrichiosis.
Most people get a tick on themselves by walking through the woods, or tall grass, but your own backyard can be tick infested as well. They are known for thriving in taller grass, and wet/shady conditions. The most simple way of getting rid of them is with chemicals, but this process carries its own risks; to your pets, your garden, and the environment.
In order to eradicate ticks from your garden in a natural, and safe way, follow these advice:
- Remove thresh
Make sure your garden is always free of any fallen leaves of nearby trees, as ticks can live in them. You need to properly discard all your grass clippings and leaves, in your compost pile, and not with regular thresh.
- Keep your lawn neat
Regular lawn mowing is a great way to insure that ticks will avoid your garden. They prefer tall grass, as they can attach to someone passing by more easily. Trim any tree branches that block sunlight from reaching your garden, as ticks like shade.
- Start raising chickens
If you ever thought about raising chickens, here’s one more argument in favor of that notion: chickens love eating ticks. They’ll happily spend days poking at them, and not only will you have fresh eggs; you’ll also get a tick-free yard.
- Use rough materials for paths
If you’re making a path through your garden, use materials such as wood chips or gravel. Ticks don’t like these types of materials, and for them it feels like walking on glass.
- Organize your woodpile
Wood piles placed in a shaded area are tick heaven. When you’re stacking wood, make sure you stack in an area that gets sun, and stack the pile neatly.
- Organic pesticides
If none of the methods above works, and you want to avoid using chemicals use this:
- 4 cloves of garlic minced and mixed with 1tbspn of mineral oil (let it sit for a day)
- Strain and mix the oil that remains with 1tspn of dish soap and 2 cups of water
- Fill up a spray bottle with 2 cups of water, and add 2 tbspnof mixture
- Shake the mixture and spray your garden
*make sure you test-spray one plant, just to make sure that the mixture won’t damage the plant. If you notice any damage to the plant, add more water to dilute the mixture
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