How to Kill Ticks in Your Lawn

Overview

Ticks are tiny parasites that survive by feasting on the blood of humans and animals, including household pets. Ticks are capable of spreading disease when they go from host to host. Lyme disease is one of the most common tick-borne illnesses. To lessen the chance of contracting a disease from a tick, you must kill any ticks that are in your lawn. Doing so prevents your pets from picking up the ticks outside and bringing them inside.

Step 1

Put on a pair of garden gloves and remove debris from your yard. Ticks love places to hide. You must clean up your yard so that the ticks have nowhere to run to.

Step 2

Rake up all of your fallen leaves and bag them. Do not compost them; take them to the landfill, or set them out to be collected on the appropriate trash collection days. Ticks hide under the leaves or in leaf piles and will move to your compost pile with the leaves if you try to use them.

Step 3

Mow the lawn often, and keep the grass short. This does two things: It takes away the ticks' hiding place, and it allows the sun to reach the soil. This causes the soil to become a little drier. Ticks prefer moist soil.

Step 4

Use a liquid pesticide if you see a lot of adult ticks around your yard. You need one that contains the ingredient carbaryl or permethrin. Follow the instructions on the product label. The pesticide may need to be mixed with water before it is sprayed on your lawn.

Step 5

Use a granular pesticide if you believe you have a lot of ticks that are in the nymph or larvae stage. Granular pesticides must be sprinkled across the yard. The package will tell you how many pounds of granules to sprinkle per square foot.