Flea & Tick Prevention & Treatment for Yards

As the summer months roll in, pest management becomes a vital component to turf and landscape maintenance. The warm weather and often humid conditions mean insects that stay relatively dormant the rest of the year, wake up and really get busy. Two common culprits are fleas and ticks.

Both insects like warm, wet weather. Summer speeds up their lifecycle, and although fall is technically worse when it comes to outbreaks, damp, shady places like plant beds, wooded areas, and tall grass are popular homes for fleas and ticks from May-August.

It’s not easy to pinpoint flea and tick season, when across the country, it’s year-round for many states. The only state that even comes close to having only a summer-based flea and tick season is Alaska. Most run from the start of spring through the end of the year, which means long-term pest management.

The only natural killer out there for these pests is the sun. Hot and dry weather conditions will kill fleas if they can’t find a shady spot to hide, but ticks are another story.

If you offer pest management services, you’ll need to have control products you know target these particular pests, in addition to other common summer insects.

Why you can’t ignore fleas and ticks

Most often associated with making life hard for pets, fleas and ticks can also bite and share diseases with humans. And, although ticks won’t infest a home, fleas will, and they’re not easy to get rid of. While fleas often only live on pets for about a week, they can live in carpet for an average of three months. They also multiply very quickly. A single female flea can lay 40-50 eggs per day, for a period of 50 days. This increases the importance of minimizing fleas and ticks in yards to decrease likelihood of indoor infestations. 

This means homeowners aren’t going to want fleas and ticks in their yards, so it’s not as likely they’ll experience an indoor infestation. 

The most common issue humans experience after a flea or tick bite is skin irritation and itching. However, both pests can spread disease. 

Humans can contract plague, typhus, or even tapeworms from fleas. The most well-known disease ticks spread is Lyme disease. Working in outdoor conditions that appeal to these pests put you at just as much risk of getting bitten as a homeowner; another reason why pest management is so important.

How to reduce the chances of infestation

The best way to reduce the chances of a flea or tick infestation is to prevent the outdoor environment from appealing to them. To do this, grass and trees should be frequently trimmed. Reducing the number of shaded areas within landscapes also gives these pests fewer places to hide.

It’s also important to clear away any built-up organic debris and prune shrubs to make sure they’re not too close to a house or each other.

Should you feel like you’ve put yourself at risk of getting flea or tick bites, and want to check for any hangers-on, both insects have specific areas of your body they prefer. When doing full-body checks at the end of the day, make sure to focus on your feet, ankles, and lower legs for fleas. They like to hitch a ride around there if possible, and will look like dark, reddish-brown spots.

Ticks have a much wider selection of favorite spots to hide, so it’s important to check everywhere for these insects. They especially like armpits, the area around the ears, inside belly buttons, the backs of knees, in and around hair, around the waist, and between the legs.

If you want to pass on some flea and tick advice to homeowners, remind them to keep pets away from tall grass and heavily wooded areas, and to check themselves and their furry friends before heading indoors anytime they walk through tall grass in the summer.

Lawn treatments focused on pest management 

In addition to proper turf maintenance, you may want to incorporate an insecticide treatment routine to really limit the risk of an infestation. Finding a product made from natural ingredients, that works against a large range of insects, can really set your pest management services apart.

At SiteOne® Landscape Supply, our LESCO® Tick Free Insecticide manages fleas and ticks to start, but also deals with mosquitos, gnats, ants, spiders, chinch bugs, stink bugs, and most exoskeleton insects. With one product, you’re able offer a wide-reaching pest management solution that you only have to apply every 30-60 days.

Managing pests as part of your landscaping services

If you decide to add pest management as a service you provide, make sure you always have access to the best products through SiteOne as well as your options for pest management solutions. It not only helps you to offer superior service, but makes sure the control products you’re using are reliable and effective.