Tips on Controlling Ticks in Your Backyard

Here’s the good news: you can take back your backyard. Controlling ticks is possible through a combination of smart landscaping choices and professional care. For more than 30 years, Ricci’s Landscape Management has helped homeowners across Northwest Indiana create outdoor spaces they can actually enjoy. We’ll walk you through protective measures that work, such as.

• Mowing your lawn frequently and clearing leaf litter
• Adding gravel or woodchip barriers between your lawn and wooded areas
• Choosing plants that don’t attract tick-carrying wildlife
• Keeping play equipment away from shaded, wooded edges
• Calling a professional for treatments that reduce ticks by up to 90%

Does Regular Lawn Maintenance Really Keep Ticks Away?

Ticks love tall grass, damp leaves, and shady spots where they can hide and wait. When you keep your lawn short and tidy, you remove the cool, moist cover they depend on. Regular maintenance is one of the simplest and most effective steps you can take.

Make these tasks part of your routine:

• Mow your lawn frequently to keep grass short
• Remove leaf litter, especially in fall and spring
• Clear tall weeds and brush along fences and edges
• Stack firewood in a dry place to discourage rodents that carry ticks

Staying on top of this work takes time, and that’s where our team can help. We handle weekly mowing, yard cleanups, and seasonal maintenance for homeowners throughout the region.

How Can Hardscaping Make Your Yard More Usable?

Ticks move from wooded areas into your lawn looking for hosts. You can stop them at the border. Placing a barrier of gravel or woodchips at least three feet wide between your lawn and any wooded area makes it much harder for ticks to cross into the spaces where your family spends time.

Hardscaping does double duty. A gravel path, a patio, or a stone walkway not only blocks tick migration but also adds value and beauty to your property. You get a cleaner, drier, more inviting yard that’s easier to enjoy and easier to maintain. Our team designs and builds patios, walkways, retaining walls, and fire pit areas that fit your space and your style.

Which Plants Should You Choose to Reduce Ticks?

The plants in your yard can either invite ticks or help keep them out. Ticks rely on animal hosts like deer and mice, so the goal is to avoid attractions that draw these animals close to your home.

Keep these tips in mind when planning your landscape:

• Avoid dense, low ground cover that holds moisture
• Remove invasive species that are linked to higher tick numbers
• Skip plants that attract deer near patios and play areas
• Choose tidy, well-spaced plantings that let sunlight reach the soil

Thoughtful plant selection keeps your yard healthy and far less welcoming to pests. We’ll help you pick plantings that look great and work with your goals.

When Should You Call a Professional for Tick Control?

Sometimes good habits aren’t enough, especially if your property backs up to woods or fields. That’s when professional treatment makes the biggest difference. Research from the University of Wisconsin found that a single professional treatment reduced nymphal ticks by 80 to 90 percent in the treated zone next to wooded areas, with results lasting about four weeks. In that same study, about half of the treated homes produced zero ticks in the sampled areas.

If you want dependable, lasting protection, professional care is the way to go. RLM offers mosquito, tick, and pest control along with Mistaway systems for ongoing defense. Our technicians are individually licensed and certified, and they complete continuing education every year.

Enjoy Your Yard Again

Ticks don’t have to keep you indoors. With regular lawn care, smart hardscaping, careful plant choices, and professional treatment when you need it, you can reclaim your outdoor space all season long. A combination of these steps gives you the best results, and you don’t have to manage them alone.

For more than 30 years, RLM has helped homeowners protect and enjoy their yards. Let us do the same for you. Reach out to us now for a free estimate.