Getting Rid of Ticks Naturally in Your Yard and Home

Did you know that ticks continue to live, thrive, and even pass Lyme disease in the winter?

For some reason, people believe the myth that Lyme’s disease won’t pass from ticks to humans or dogs in the winter, but it’s false. My veterinary recently told me that he diagnoses the most cases of Lyme’s disease in dogs in the winter because so many pet owners fail to continue with flea and tick medicine in the winter.

As a parent and owner of pets, being vigilant against ticks is essential. At the same time, some of the chemicals used in sprays make me nervous, so I prefer to use natural ways to get rid of ticks.

Here are some of my favorite natural tick remedies that work.

5 Ways to Naturally Get Rid of Ticks

1. 1. Keep Grass Short

Ticks love to live in tall grass, so keeping your lawn short around your home and property helps tremendously. Cutting your lawn regularly is highly effective at reducing the population, and it's also wise for you to stay out of grassy pastures or densely wooded areas.

That's not always possible, though!

1. 2. Apply Diatomaceous Earth

Using food-grade diatomaceous earth is another way to effectively and naturally remove ticks from your property. D.E. is comprised of microscopic fossilize organisms, and it works by piercing the insect’s outer layer and leading to dehydration.

You can sprinkle diatomaceous earth in your yard and over your pets to get rid of ticks (and fleas). It will lose its effectiveness when wet, so you’ll need to reapply after it rains or if your kids used the sprinkler.

However, it is pet and human-friendly, so you can feel confident that it’s safe to use in and around your home.

1. 3. Use Organic Neem Oil

Neem oil is one of my favorite natural pesticides, and I've used it on my garden successfully before. It's another natural remedy to repel and remove ticks from your property and yard. It also can be used on your body.

If you want to use it on yourself, all you do is add a few drops into your hand and rub it over your body. Then, mix it with almond, coconut, olive, or another light carrier oil. If you dilute the oil, you can use neem oil on your dogs as well.

1. 4. Get Backyard Chickens

Chickens love to eat ticks, and getting backyard chickens is a surefire way to decrease how many ticks you have on your property. Our property backs the woods, so we have plenty of ticks. Each time our children came inside after playing, I would find at least one or two.

Then, we purchased chickens and let them free range on our property. Last summer, we never found a single tick on our children. It might have been partly because of the other natural methods we use, but chickens love to eat all insects. They spend all day pecking and foraging our yard, so you can bet that they play a role.

1. 5. Spray Beneficial Nematodes

Never heard of beneficial nematodes? All gardeners need to learn about these handy little creatures. To put it simply, beneficial nematodes are tiny roundworms that infect tick larvae with bacteria. When a tick comes in contact with these nematodes, they’ll die within a day or two.

You can order them online or check to see if your local garden nursery has any. They can be easy to apply. Typically, all you need to do is apply them with a hose-end sprayer or even a watering can works great!

Keep Ticks Away

We all know that ticks are dangerous, but the CDC has stated that Lyme and other tickborne diseases are on the rise. That means we need to do all we can to keep ticks away from our home, protecting ourselves and those that we love.

Bethany blogs at Family Growing Pains, giving gardening and homesteading advice. She is a mother to four kids that she homeschools and is married to her high school sweetheart.