Natural Flea & Tick Repellent for Yard

Fleas and ticks are a common summertime irritant to both pets and people, and they can also transmit dangerous diseases. In addition to regular flea and tick prevention for your pets, there are several safe and effective remedies you can use to create natural flea and tick repellents for your yard.

One of the easiest natural flea and tick repellents for your yard is simple lawn maintenance. Fleas have a harder time surviving in short grass that offers little protection from hot sun. Ticks generally cling to plants that are at least a foot tall so they can jump off onto animals and people. Regular watering of your lawn can drown flea larvae, but make sure not to leave pools of standing water, or you'll trade your flea problem for a mosquito problem.

Many sources claim that diatomaceous earth is an effective natural flea and tick repellent for your yard. Diatomaceous earth is a powder made from fossilized phytoplankton, and it is a safe and nontoxic bug repellent. Rather than poisoning insects, diatomaceous earth attacks bugs by puncturing their exoskeletons and dehydrating them. To use it as a flea and tick repellent for your yard, you can spread it on the ground with no damage to plants, pets or people.

Another natural flea and tick repellent for your yard is lime. Spreading lime on a flea-infested yard can decrease flea populations by dehydrating the fleas. Lime is especially effective at killing fleas when applied to moist areas of the yard. Keep in mind that lime can affect the acidity of your yard and may negatively impact lawn growth.

Tick tubes, such as those made by Damminix, contain cotton balls with permethrin, a poison that effectively kills fleas and ticks but is generally harmless to humans and animals. Fleas and ticks in your yard often thrive on the mice that also live in your yard. Tick tubes exploit that relationship: mice take the cotton to their lairs for nesting, which then kills the resident fleas and ticks, thereby decreasing the number of fleas and ticks in your yard.

Fleas may occupy parts of your yard that are sandy or bare. You can safely and naturally use heat to kill fleas in these sandy areas of your yard. Simply cover the area with a black tarp and leave it there during the heat of the day. The heat under the tarp should kill any fleas in the sand and decrease the number of fleas in your yard.