The garden is not only our favorite place. If you look closely, you will see arachnids everywhere in summer. Usually there is no reason to panic, even if they come up close to us occasionally. However, alarm bells should ring when ticks are in the garden, because they are carriers of dangerous diseases such as Lyme disease. Even the greatest vigilance cannot completely protect us against the bites of these small arachnids, which are well hidden in the grass. Can't we just eradicate them?
Ticks in the garden
According to experts, ticks, scientifically Ixodida, do not belong to the particularly mobile arachnids.
- move in a small area for a lifetime
- their radius is about 1 to 1.5 m
The fact that they can still be found everywhere is thanks to other animals, which involuntarily carry them over long distances. We are talking about their host animals. In the forest these are deer, foxes and rabbits, while in the home garden mice are often the host animals. A garden suffering from an infestation of mice therefore carries a higher risk of ticks.
Even if the tick can't get very far on its own legs, it doesn't have to starve to death. When no victim is in sight, she exercises patience. She spends almost 95% of her lifetime waiting. But the most amazing thing is that Ixodida can survive an incredible 2 years without any food. With optimal nourishment, it can live up to nine years on average. If a tick has gotten onto the home lawn via a host animal, it poses a danger for several years.
Natural enemies
The tick family, which has around 800 species, also has natural enemies. The following animal species hunt and eat ticks:
- mushrooms
- roundworms
- small chalcids
- and various bird species
We can hope that as many specimens as possible will be discovered and destroyed. However, we cannot easily settle natural enemies like those listed above in a private garden. Therefore, natural enemies alone are not enough to eradicate them in our immediate vicinity. We have to take care of that ourselves with other feasible methods.
eradicate ticks
When do we act? When the first tick is sighted, or as a preventive measure? In the second case, we could have a lot of work to do. If we suspect a tick area, a simple test might bring more clarity. These arachnids don't use their eyes to look for potential victims. Ammonia, butyric acid and carbon monoxide are the substances whose smell arouses the tick's aggressiveness. The so-called flag or flag method is based on this.
- use a sweaty sheet as bait
- Drag paint through the grass
- at garden sites where they are suspected
The ingredients in the bed sheets and the movement that roams by lure the biting animals to you in no time at all. If the paint is white, the animals can be spotted very quickly.
fight host animals
Mice are host animals for ticks and are therefore also a source of tick offspring. These snappy arachnids feel comfortable in their fur. If we fight mice, we take away an important habitat for the parasites. Mice are undesirable anyway because they eat at the roots of our plants and thus interrupt their water and nutrient supply. The following signs tell us about their presence:
- wilted plants without root attachment
- holes in the ground
- occasionally mice can be spotted on the surface
A wide variety of methods are recommended for combating these pests. If necessary, you can obtain specific information about this.
Controlling ticks on mice
So-called tick rolls are available on the market, the ingredients of which are poisonous to ticks. For this purpose, the roll is filled with nesting material, which in turn is contaminated with a pesticide. These rolls are laid out in the garden. When mice drag the material into their nest, their fur comes into contact with it. According to the manufacturer, this should kill the parasites nesting in it.
To what extent you can actually eradicate ticks in the garden with it remains questionable. The prerequisite is that the mice also accept the material offered. In addition, other host animals can also be used to spread ticks.
Minimize shady hiding places
Tick animals prefer shady places where they wait quietly for their victims to be bitten. You should spoil these places for them by providing more light. For this reason, cut back trees and shrubs that provide shade in the spring. While this will not eradicate all specimens, it will certainly help reduce risk. In addition to shade, Ixodida also likes consistently high humidity. Thinning out trees and shrubs also helps here. More sun allows moisture to evaporate better after rainfall. In addition, you should also avoid regular/permanent watering, such as with a lawn sprinkler.
Mow the lawn short
Green lawn invites you to linger longer in summer. Children appreciate it as a play area where they can romp around barefoot. But ticks can hide well in the grass in the garden and have an easy time reaching us. The higher the grass, the better conditions you will find and the greater the danger for us humans and our pets.
- Always mow the lawn short
- from spring to autumn
- at short time intervals
notice: The danger of ticks lurks not only on warm days. At temperatures from 5 °C, they are also active in autumn and winter and can bite.
protective wall around the garden
Experts recommend digging a trench around the property and filling it with crushed stone or gravel. Such a ditch creates a dry area for immigrating ticks in the garden, which they find difficult to cross.
Commercial sprays
The Neudorff company promises a natural means of combating Ixodida in lawns. The active ingredient pyrethrum it contains is obtained from some types of chrysanthemums. A 1% spray solution is made from the concentrate and sprayed onto the lawn. The treatment should be repeated after 7-10 days. After the spray has dried, according to the manufacturer, the lawn can be walked on without any problems.
tick traps
So-called tick traps should also be non-toxic and environmentally friendly. They are filled with various biological substances that attract Ixodida and then stick them together. The small traps should be placed at the property boundaries. This should also encourage the migration of animals from your own garden. After a month, the bait can is disposed of with household waste.
Play it safe
In view of how severe a Lyme disease infection can be for us humans, for your own safety, the home garden should never be considered tick-free. Not even if some means of control have already been used against them.
- long clothing offers some protection
- Be careful walking barefoot through tall grass
- Search body after gardening
- inform about the correct removal
- Keep tick tweezers handy
tip: There is currently no vaccine against Lyme disease. Another disease that is also transmitted by ticks is tick-borne encephalitis (TBE). Here you have the possibility to be vaccinated preventively.