5 Ways to Reduce Ticks Without Spraying Chemicals

Keep grass short and clear leaf litter Mow regularly and rake up leaves in spring. Ticks thrive in tall grass and under leaf piles, not in open, sunny lawns.

Create a dry barrier between lawn and woods Install a three-foot-wide strip of gravel or wood chips along wooded edges. Ticks won’t cross that dry, sunny gap.

Trim back overgrown shrubs and brush Remove vegetation where ticks wait for hosts. Keep shrubs trimmed and away from paths and play areas.

Use tick tubes in spring and late summer Place cardboard tubes filled with permethrin-treated cotton near wooded edges. Mice carry the cotton to their nests, killing ticks on them without broadcast spraying.

Treat your shoes and pants with permethrin Apply permethrin spray to clothing and let it dry. This is far more effective than bug spray for preventing tick bites.