How to Get Rid of Ticks in Your Yard
Good natural tick deterrents are rosemary, citronella, tea tree, and peppermint.
Reading Time: 4 minutes
Learn how to get rid of ticks in your yard with natural tick deterrents and techniques for tick prevention for yards and fields.
by Maggie Bullington
It was a beautiful day as the sunshine was spilled over the summer grasses of our pasture. My sister and I took a hike down to the gully which ran between the two hills where our cows grazed. Our romp was rudely interrupted when I discovered I had inadvertently walked through a waiting cluster of tiny seed ticks, and they were spread all over my clothing!
When I was 12, we moved from one side of an Alabama county (where my father grew up), to the other side of the county, where his family’s roots ran a couple of generations further back. This move opened a whole new world of opportunities to my family. My siblings and I had much more room to move and discover. We had more space for animals and better soil for the garden, plus opportunities to establish relationships with kinfolk and the world of my grandad’s youth. It was wonderful!
One outstanding difference we noticed on our new property, however, was the tick population. Where we’d been used to finding a big “dog tick” now and then, our beloved new homeland was plagued by deer ticks. If you went for a romp through the pasture, the tiny, pin-head-sized immature ticks could be on you in a swarm without you even noticing … until later.
It’s easy to overlook a problem like ticks when planning your dream homestead on paper, but they can be a big problem when you get to work in the field. Ticks aren’t particularly fun to discuss, but they’re a reality to many of us in the rural U.S. There are many species of ticks, ranging in size and appearance, but all share common habits. Their itchy bites can remind you of the encounter for months. Not only are ticks a nuisance, these pests also can carry diseases and illnesses, such as Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain spotted fever. When they bite their host, such as a hard-working you, these diseases can quickly transmit, and their effects can last for years.
After living in this part of the country for over 20 years, we’ve seen the ebb and flow of the tick population, depending on seasonal climate changes. We’ve also developed strategies to limit or avoid the ticks on our homestead.
Tick Prevention for Yard and Pasture
Ticks that need a host commonly hang out in tall grass waiting for a creature to pass by. So, the first step toward decreasing run-ins with ticks is to manage the grass in areas around the house and barn that are frequently traveled on foot. Short grass doesn’t completely deter ticks, but it puts them at a disadvantage. Use grazing animals in addition of routine mowing and brush-hogging.
We like to mow paths to avoid wading through tall grass when putting out electric netting for our animals. The shorter grass also helps the electricity flow through the fence more efficiently without as much resistance, so it’s a win-win!
Ticks and mites also live in trees and can drop onto you. Like the tall grasses, you’ll want to cut back trees from right around your house. We like to do a lot of pruning and brush clearing in the cooler months (below 40 degrees Fahrenheit) when ticks are dormant.
Natural Tick Deterrents
There are some companies out there who now offer “tick-proof” clothing that is penetrated with bug deterrent. But I personally don’t care for the idea of having chemical bug deterrent in my clothing. Good natural tick deterrents are rosemary, citronella, tea tree, and peppermint. The best defense is to be alert to your surroundings, so even if you do come across ticks, you can deal with them before they get to you. Light-colored clothing makes it easier to spot a crawling tick. When out at work, I typically wear a wide-brimmed hat and boots, making it harder for a tick to crawl right onto me. I also avoid sitting or lying down directly in grass.
Chickens and guinea fowl are natural tick eaters. Our guinea fowl flock, free-ranging around our house and barn, have drastically reduced our tick encounters.
Berry picking is a prime opportunity to get into ticks (and chiggers!), but who wants to miss out on those berries? It works beautifully to harvest berries from the back of a truck. This keeps the pickers out of the briers as well! I’m also a huge fan of growing cultivated berries in the garden, where I can use mulch, keeping things tidy and little more inhospitable for pests.
After a while, these habits have become second nature. We all love the idyllic dream of homestead life … eating our own food from beautiful gardens, and enjoying productive work as a family, alongside our livestock. There is so much to love about this life and mindset. Any problem I can work through counts as a success on my homesteading journey.
Ticks may be part of the rural landscape, but they don’t have to stop us from enjoying life, nor do we have to just “put up with” their interference. When you decrease their natural environment, turn the predators loose, and work with a little forethought and care, tick encounters can be brought to a happy, healthy minimum on your homestead.
Maggie Bullington lives in beautiful, rural Alabama. She is keenly interested in flowers, homemaking, and growing nutrient-dense food. She’d love to have you visit her blog, where she writes about projects and life, for the glory of God. She also works with her brother, the custom knifemaker at Lucas Forge.
Originally published in the March/April 2024 issue of Countryside and Small Stock Journal and regularly vetted for accuracy.
