In this post, I'll show you my tried and true process for controlling mosquitoes and ticks in your yard.
Although you can never guarantee a 100% tick and mosquito-free yard. The good news is, it's very possible to greatly reduce the population of ticks and mosquitoes in your yard and control it.
Mosquitoes and ticks are some of the most dangerous insects in the world. Unlike other notorious insects known for their toxic venom or painful bites, mosquitoes and ticks spread terrible diseases. In fact, between these two insects, up to 26 different diseases are spread every year to millions of people.
If you own your own home, controlling it from the invasion of mosquitoes and ticks should be one of your top priorities. For those who live in wooded areas or near wetlands, this could mean the difference between enjoying your yard or having it a feeding frenzy for bloodthirsty insects. I don't know about you, but I'm not cool with donating my blood to mosquitoes and ticks!
The first and most important things you can do to get rid of ticks and mosquitoes are keeping your yard free of still water like birdbaths, outdoor equipment that holds water, and clogged gutters. These are prime locations for mosquitoes to breed. Grass (and weeds) must be kept short and maintained. Plus, dead leaves and other piles of vegetation should be removed to prevent ticks.
Finally, treating your yard with spray and other products engineered to kill or repel the pests will make the biggest difference.
Before We Start (Disclaimer):
This article is for informational purposes only. There's no way to achieve 100% protection from ticks and mosquitoes. Included are guidelines that I've developed after several years of trial and error. These methods work for me in the Northeast USA. However, they may not work as well in the Southwest USA for example. The methods described below are known to me as safe when used according to the manufacturer's instructions. I am not liable for any harm caused to yourself, others, the environment or the wildlife of your area as a result of you practicing any information found in this article.
The Strategy
The approach for mosquito and tick control should be multi-faceted. In other words, there's no single spray or treatment that is going to effectively and consistently rid your yard of both pests. That's why we need to employ a strategy that targets the pests' multiple stages of life plus their living and feeding habits.
The process is divided into three phases:
- Phase 1 - Preventative
- Phase 2 - Shock and Awe
- Phase 3 - Maintenance
Phase 1 uses methods intended specifically for each pest species. These are the preventative steps that should prevent the population of ticks and mosquitoes from growing too large early in the season.
Phase 2 will blast both ticks and mosquitoes around your property with a spray designed to kill and deter the pests. The combination of natural chemicals that I'll describe attacks both ticks and mosquitoes at the same time. That way, you don't need to spray twice for both pests.
This phase is performed over a two week period to significantly knock down any established population on your property.
Phase 3 uses a slightly different combination of spray chemicals. In this stage, we perform the spraying once every 3 to 4 weeks to keep the population low.
Now that you know the basic strategy, let's dive into the details.
Phase 1 - Preventative
The Phase 1 approach focuses on addressing the tick and mosquito population before it matures. This is a crucial step that if performed correctly and at the right time, will substantially reduce the number of pests around your property right from the start.
When To Perform:
Phase 1 should be performed between late April to mid May.
What You'll Need:
- Thermacell Tick Control Tubes - 6 count for up to 1 acre;
- Summit Mosquito Dunks
How To:
Here's how to perform the preventative phase 1 process for ticks and mosquitoes.
Step 1 - Tick Prevention
Thermacell tick control tubes are a genius way to control the tick population around your yard. Each tube is filled with cotton. This isn't ordinary cotton, however. You see, this cotton is treated with permethrin, which is an insecticide.
Just simply place the tubes around your yard in places where mice travel or hide. Once a mouse comes across your tube of fluffy cotton, it can't resist bringing some back to its nest to use for bedding. The permethrin gets on the fur and skin of the mice.
You see, ticks feed on mice, especially in their early stage of life. When a tick bites the mouse, it dies from the insecticide permethrin that's on the mouse.
This tick control method is an effective and passive way to control the tick population around your property without any hard work on your part.
Step 2 - Mosquito Prevention
Summit Mosquito Dunks are a natural and effective product that kills mosquito larvae before they can mature into adult mosquitoes.
Mosquitoes lay their eggs inside pools of freshwater. This includes swamps, small ponds, puddles, untreated pools, birdbaths, or other forms of standing freshwater. If you love near wetlands as I do, your surrounded by the ultimate breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Even if you don't live near wetlands, you likely have areas of standing water that mosquitoes can grow.
The active ingredient in Mosquito Dunks is Bacillus thuringiensis. This naturally occurring bacterium populates the water where mosquito larvae grow and matures. However, when the larvae ingest the water containing the Bacillus thuringiensis it dies.
Summit Mosquito Dunks float in the water and slowly dissolve. They last for 30 days and are most effective if reapplied every 30 days. That is if the standing water lasts into the Summer. Our wetlands dry up in June, so we only use Mosquito Dunks until then...
That's it for phase 1. These two methods described in this phase should be performed between Late April and Mid May. If done according to instructions, they should go a long way in controlling your pest population before it has a chance to grow. Next is Phase 2...
Phase 2 - Shock and Awe
The Phase 2 approach is like shock and awe to the mosquitoes and ticks lying in wait around your yard to pounce on you at the first opportunity. In this phase, you'll blast their habitat with a potent concoction of natural chemicals designed to kill and repel them.
When To Perform:
Phase 2 should be performed between early May and early June.
What You'll Need:
- EcoGuard Plus, All Natural Tick and Mosquito Control concentrate
- Garlic Concentrate like Mosquito Barrier Liquid Spray
- Backpack sprayer - pump style or gasoline-powered. Gas-powered is preferred.
- Mask to prevent breathing in the spray. The spray is natural but may irritate your respiratory system.
How To:
The combination of the EcoGuard Plus and Garlic Concentrate takes 2 effective tick and mosquito control chemicals and boosts their performance.
Depending on the size of your backpack sprayer tank, reference the mixing directions of each concentrate to determine how much concentrate you need. I follow the directions for each concentrate but add both to the same tank of water.
Fill the tank about halfway with water first then add the liquid concentrates. After that, fill the tank with the remaining amount with water.
Spray around the perimeter of your yard and into the trees as high as you can. Focus on shady areas, around tall grass, brush, under decks, and finally the plain lawn.
Frequency:
Perform this spraying twice (2X) - the first time and then two weeks later. This should use up all of the 8 oz EcoGuard Plus bottle. This is okay because you'll be using a different chemical for Phase 3.
Phase 3 - Maintain
Phase 3 will keep your tick and mosquito population under control for the rest of the season. In this phase, you'll perform sprayings every 3 - 4 weeks just to keep the pests at bay.
When To Perform:
Phase 3 should be performed between early June and Fall until the mosquitoes naturally subside.
What You'll Need:
- Wondercide Natural Outdoor Pest Control
- Garlic Concentrate like Mosquito Barrier Liquid Spray
- Backpack sprayer - pump style or gasoline-powered. Gas-powered is preferred.
- Mask to prevent breathing in the spray. The spray is natural but may irritate your respiratory system.
How To:
The way to perform Phase 3 is just like Phase 2, only this time you're going to use Wondercide concentrate in combination with the garlic concentrate.
Depending on the size of your backpack sprayer tank, reference the mixing directions of each concentrate to determine how much concentrate you need. I follow the directions for each concentrate but add both to the same tank of water.
Fill the tank about halfway with water first then add the liquid concentrates. After that, fill the tank with the remaining amount with water.
Spray around the perimeter of your yard and into the trees as high as you can. Focus on shady areas, around tall grass, brush, under decks, and finally the plain lawn.
Frequency:
Perform the spraying every 3 - 4 weeks. This should be performed until the mosquito and tick season comes to an end.
Conclusion
Controlling ticks and mosquitoes in your yard is very possible and worth the time it takes. Tick and mosquitoes are not only obnoxious, they carry terrible diseases that can severy impact your quality of life.
To summarize the how to control them in your yard, you should:
- Remove standing water from your yard. If you can't or don't want to, you can use Mosquito Dunks to treat the water and prevent the larvae from maturing.
- Keep grass and weeds short and maintained to reduce the number of hiding places for ticks and mosquitoes.
- Keep your yard clear of dead leaves and other debris to prevent ticks. This blower works great for that task.
- Place tick tubes around your yard.
- Spray a combination of garlic spray and natural insecticide in 2-week intervals 2X, then every 3-4 weeks until the season ends.
John
Awesome article. This takes 2 of the 3 pests out of action... I live in Maine, so browntail moth and tent caterpillars are the final buggers to get rid of. I can live with the tent caterpillars, but browntail moths are a real problem. What can we add to the mix to take care of these little bastards? I'll get the other stuff for sure. I've also experienced a great addition to your regiment... Between the grass yard and the woods, obviously removing the smaller trees and plants that grow knee level helps control both ticks and mosquitoes, but adding wood chips, mulch, or any other wide band of similar products on the ground creates a physical barrier that deters the travel of these critters and keeps the plants from regrowing. I usually add a little borate to a pump sprayer and hit this chips/mulch up to keep the ants under control too as well as along the foundation of my house each spring and fall. DE is also good to use in the chips for certain pests as well, from my understanding, but I haven't gone this route yet to offer any experiential results. Thanks - hit me an email back if you have some thoughts on the browntail moth, they are bad this year up here.
Jared D
I don't have any experience with brown moths specifically, but I know that Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) works for most caterpillars. You have to coat all the leaves thoroughly for it to work effectively though.
Thanks for the comment!