They can, although risk concentrates at shaded edges like those around ornamental beds or fence lines. Open, sunny parts of the lawn are far less likely to have ticks.
Good yard maintenance is one of the best things you can do to control ticks. Mowing your grass and trimming landscaping greatly reduces the number of places where ticks can wait for hosts to pass by on your property. They dry out in the hot sun easily, after all. But that doesn’t mean that lawn care alone can fix all your problems.
Well-maintained yards describe the middle of the lawn. The problem is that ticks tend to live around the edges. Nearly every suburban lot has features that hold humidity. It might be a shaded strip along a privacy fence, mulched ornamental beds, ground cover like pachysandra or ivy, ornamental grasses, or a transition zone between lawn and woods. Blacklegged ticks, which are the ones that carry Lyme disease, are happy to call any of these home.
Then there's delivery, which no amount of mowing prevents. Deer move through South Jersey neighborhoods routinely and drop engorged adult ticks as they browse. White-footed mice, the main reservoir for the Lyme bacterium and a key host for immature ticks, can easily pass from property to property and shed ticks all along the way. The family dog can even be a problem when they pick up ticks at the park and drop them off at home. Even really well-kept yards get seeded with new arrivals.
New Jersey's Lyme disease burden is among the highest in the country, and local blacklegged ticks also carry anaplasmosis and babesiosis, so everything you can do matters. Keep up the lawn maintenance and keep pets on preventatives too. But don’t forget to check for ticks after coming inside as well. And if the tick population is still higher than you’d like, don’t be afraid to call a professional for help.
If you are finding ticks in a yard you keep well maintained, Mosquito Squad of South Jersey can help. Mosquito Squad treats the shaded edges of your yard where ticks live. This will help you protect your family with up to 90% reduction in pest activity on a recurring cycle.
