Want To Keep the Ticks Out of Your Minneapolis Yard? Keep the Deer Out!

Deer ticks are something we know plenty about here in Minnesota. And they are called deer ticks for a reason because they feed and travel on deer into our yards. They ride into our yards on a deer, lay about 2000 eggs that hatch and feed on mice, and become infected with disease. Who wants to look out their kitchen window, see a quick glimpse of Bambi and then visualize this? If you or your husband are hunters, then ok maybe you’re excited about the easy target, but this probably isn’t your vision of the prime hunting situation. So what do you do?

What Will Keep The Deer Out?

If your property borders what could be a heavily populated deer area you might consider a deer fence. Borders of stone or other landscaping material can also be used to create a border between your manicured yard and woods and areas where ticks might congregate. This is a great tool especially for making it clear to smaller children where they should go and where they shouldn’t. There are plants you can use too, but you have to research. For as many plants as deer don’t like there are probably twice as many as they love. So get ready to pull your hostas up and let’s see what you need…

Minneapolis Plants That Don’t Attract Deer

Barrier plants can be a great nonchemical way to keep the deer away. Avoid vegetable plants and fruit trees. Try herbs like oregano, rosemary, and mint instead. Want something beautiful? Try zinnias, black-eyed Susans, and marigolds. Gerten’s Nursery in Inver Grove Heights, MN also has suggestions: gingko, chestnut, and birch trees for example. You could add verbena or snapdragons, poppies or Shasta daisies. While the work of pulling up your Hostas may be a pain (unless the deer have already eaten them), it doesn’t mean you can’t have a beautiful yard, and you’ll have the added benefit of not suffering the dissapointment of finding your plants eaten and gone.

Make Your Yard Unattractive to Ticks Too

The University of Rhode Island’s TickEncounter Resource Center has some great ideas about cleaning up your yard to be less attractive to ticks. Clean up leaves, bag them and take them away. Wet humid places are a great spot for nymph ticks to hide. Keep paths that lead from more wooded areas into your yard cut wide. Ticks grab onto you from brush and blades of grass, don’t give them the reach. Trim low-hanging shrubs and limbs for the same reason. Keep woodpiles away from your daily traffic areas. The perimeter of your yard is a good place for disease-carrying mice to hide as well. Stone walls, sheds, woodpiles all need to be kept as neat and dry as possible. Ticks thrive on dark, cluttered, humid areas.

What If the Ticks Make It In the Yard Anyway?

There are other deer repellents out there and any sporting goods store can help sell you the what you may need. Or there is still the option of the shotgun out the back door, but really? Research your barrier options and you can make your yard exactly the sanctuary you want for your family and not the woodland creatures. And for the ticks that do make it in? Mosquito Squad of Twin Cities’ time released barrier treatment and tick tube system goes just a step further in keeping those hard to control areas from becoming tick habitat. We eliminate 85-90% of ticks in your yard and our products come with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Call today!