Setting Up a Tick Management Program

Where to Treat. Ticks don't like sunny, dry, well-manicured lawn areas so there's no point in treating the whole yard. Within a lawn, 4 out of 5 ticks typically will be located within 3 yards of the lawn's edge. 

Establish a 3-foot wide treatment area where lawn meets woods and around the perimeter of the yard. Ideally this treatment strip should be mulched because: (1) it outlines your treatment site - treat right on top of the mulch; (2) the mulch actually deters movement of ticks onto the lawn; and (3) the mulched strip serves as a reminder to children and others that moving beyond the mulch means you are leaving the safe zone and entering a high risk area for ticks.

Use Google maps or similar to get an overview of the layout of yard, its size, adjacent wooded areas, and potential problem sites. Also, try to determine what’s on the other side of the property line before you treat, things such as ornamental ponds, beehives, or play areas.

Treat for several yards distance into bordering woods. Other high risk tick areas that should be treated are brushy areas, areas of groundcover vegetation, and woodland paths. One benefit to spraying brushy areas and under ornamental plants is that these sites are also resting areas for mosquitoes, so you are providing mosquito control at the same time. While you shouldn't treat the yard itself, depending on the situation, you might want to treat the perimeter of areas within the yard that are frequently used by people like play areas, gardens, and walkways, but avoid treating or drift into vegetable gardens, blooming flowers, and water features. Decorative stone walls and retaining walls can harbor rodents and their ticks and should be treated.

Remember, that your state probably requires certification for ornamentals or turf in order for you to apply pesticides for tick control. And many states require that you notify customers, and sometimes neighbors, prior to pesticide application.