Yes, professional yard tick treatment can greatly reduce how many ticks are living on your property. But the trick is that it needs to be applied to the right places, in the right concentration, and with the right frequency.
It’s fair to be skeptical. You might have tried a hose-end tick spray from the store, but not had much luck with it. It’s easy to have an experience like that and conclude that the whole category is a waste. But that’s not the case, and the difference comes down to what is being sprayed, where, and how often.
Start with where ticks are. Unlike mosquitoes, ticks don't fly or roam your open lawn. They wait in specific spots: shaded leaf litter, the tall grass and brush at the yard's edge, ground cover, and the transition zone where a manicured lawn meets woods or a field. In the Sandhills, that kind of habitat can be found everywhere, and the lone star tick is the species that dominates. It’s aggressive and it is known to transmit alpha-gal syndrome, which can give you a severe red-meat allergy.
A treatment that targets those edges and shaded zones hits the ticks where they congregate. Blasting the middle of the lawn, where few ticks bother to sit, wastes product and explains a lot of disappointing DIY results.
The other major factor here is repetition. Ticks have overlapping life stages. As some are adults, others are hatching. Treatment also wears down over time, usually about three weeks. That means that re-upping treatment is a good way to address emerging ticks and reduce the number of active nymphs and adults giving you trouble right now.
Some DIY solutions like skin repellents work because you apply them directly to your skin. But the problem is that you have to apply them and they only work for a few hours at a time. That won’t fix the underlying problem in your yard.
Pair the treatment with the basics, keeping grass short and leaf litter cleared, and you've stacked the odds well in your favor.
If you're tired of pulling ticks off the kids and the dog after every trip outside, Mosquito Squad of The Sandhills can help. This can be done through tick control that treats the shaded edges and brush where ticks wait, helping protect your family with up to 90% reduction in pest activity on a recurring 21-day cycle.
