Yard Tick Treatment for Central NJ Lawns, Edges and Leaf Litter

New Jersey's tickborne diseases and the backyard

The New Jersey Department of Health lists a long roster of conditions spread to people by tick bites in this state: Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, Powassan virus, Borrelia miyamotoi infection, spotted fever group rickettsiosis, tularemia and alpha-gal syndrome. The blacklegged tick is the species the CDC features in its own tick guidance, shown as both a tiny nymph and a larger adult.

Many people assume ticks are a hiking problem. The CDC says otherwise: many people pick up ticks in their own yard or neighborhood, in grassy, brushy or wooded areas. Exposure can happen in any month, though the CDC notes ticks are most active during the warmer stretch from April through September. That is the season a yard program is built around.

How a tick waits for you: questing at the lawn edge

Ticks cannot fly or jump. According to the CDC, many species wait in a posture called questing, holding onto grass or shrubs with their back legs and stretching the front pair out toward anything that brushes past. They find hosts by sensing breath, body odor, heat, moisture and vibration, and they favor well-worn animal paths and the tips of grasses and low shrubs.

That behavior tells us where to look. An open, sunny, closely mowed lawn is not where questing ticks gather. The transition zones are: where turf stops and taller growth begins, the leaf layer under shrubs, the shaded strip behind a shed, and the trails deer and other animals cut through the back of the lot.

Walking the property: the spots our technician checks

Before we treat anything, our technician walks the full perimeter and the interior of the yard and sketches the zones that need attention. Typical stops include:

• The line where lawn meets woods, meadow or an unmowed lot.
• Leaf litter under foundation shrubs, hedges and ornamental beds.
• Stone walls, rock piles and edging where leaves collect against the stone.
• Brushy fence lines, including the neighbor's side where it borders your yard.
• Woodpiles and the ground around them.
• Swing sets, decks and patios that sit close to a wooded edge.
• Paths animals use to cross the yard, often visible as a narrow trampled line.
• Old furniture, mattresses or trash piles, which the CDC says give ticks places to hide.

What a yard tick treatment visit includes

Treatment is targeted, not a blanket over the whole lawn. Our technician applies a product labeled for tick control to the zones mapped during the walk, at the rates and with the equipment the label directs. Your technician will explain any steps to take before and after treatment, following the product label, such as how long people and pets should stay off treated areas.

We want to be straight about what that does. The CDC says pesticides can reduce the number of ticks in treated areas, and in the same breath says you should not rely on spraying to reduce your risk of infection. A treated yard still calls for the personal precautions further down this page. The CDC also suggests checking with local health or agricultural officials about timing and local rules for residential applications, and we follow product labels and New Jersey rules on every visit.

Because ticks are most active from April through September, the visit schedule covers that span. We set the number and spacing of visits with you after the first walk, based on how much edge habitat the property has and how the yard is used.

Landscape changes the CDC recommends against ticks

Habitat work does as much as any application and keeps helping between visits. These steps come from the CDC's yard guidance, and we will point out which ones fit your property:

• Rake out leaf litter, especially under shrubs and along the woods line.
• Cut back tall grass and brush around the house and at the edges of the lawn.
• Lay a strip of wood chips or gravel about three feet wide between the lawn and wooded areas to limit tick movement into the places you use.
• Mow often during the growing season.
• Stack firewood neatly in a dry spot, which discourages rodents.
• Move play equipment, decks and patios away from yard edges and trees where you can.
• Use fencing to keep out deer and stray dogs.
• Haul away old furniture, mattresses and trash.

After any time outdoors, the tick check still matters

No yard treatment replaces a tick check. The CDC recommends a full-body check after time in tick-prone areas, including your own backyard, using a mirror for the hard-to-see spots: under the arms, in and around the ears and hair, inside the belly button, behind the knees, between the legs and around the waist. Check children the same way, and check clothing, gear and pets before they come inside.

Showering within two hours of coming indoors has been shown to reduce the risk of Lyme disease, according to the CDC, and can wash off ticks that have not attached. Tumble-drying dry clothes on high heat for 10 minutes kills ticks on them; if clothes need washing first, use hot water, because cold and medium temperatures will not.

Homes that back onto wooded edges, whether in Marlboro, Old Bridge or elsewhere in our area, usually need the most edge work. If mosquitoes are also keeping you off the patio, our mosquito control visits can be scheduled alongside tick work.