Jessaka,

I know that we have discussed this many times in previous years and there are no easy answers. I also know that ticks are a long-term and serious issue for you on your property.

There are no pesticide products, either of organic or chemical origin, that target only ticks and nothing but ticks. If such a product ever comes onto the market and it is actually effective and controls ticks without harming humans, pets or beneficial insects, its' manufacturer will make all kinds of money.

The best organic product is Diatomaceous Earth as we've discussed in previous years. I use only food-grade D.E. because some manufacturers are now adding chemical pesticides to DE and I am seeing those on the shelves of stores more and more often. I orderer my food grade D.E. online a couple of years ago from GH Organics. I've used DE for about 15 years and have never had any side effects from using it on the yard, garden, pets or house. The safest method is to mix it with water and spray it onto the ground, plants, etc. I also dust it dry though, although you probaby ought to wear a ventilation mask when you do that.

The downside to using DE is that it kills other bugs, good and bad, so I try to use it only in limited areas and I avoid putting it in places where I am building up populations of good bugs so they can control the bad.

Otherwise, OSU recommends products containing pyriproxyfen, permethrin, or pyrethin/pyrethroids. However, I personally choose not to use these products, especially the permethrins. Permethrin has been linked to death in cats and, since I love my cats, I won't use it. If you do not have cats, permethrin might work for you.

If ticks are a problem for your pets, follow the Dirt Doctor's organic recommendations at his website. I always find the info on the Dirt Doctor's website under "flea control" because basically what he says to do for ticks is to use his flea control program. If ticks are a problem for people, treat as the Dirt Doctor says, plus always wear a tick repellent and always check your body for ticks when you've been outside on the property.

Fire ants are a great help because they eat ticks. However, I wouldn't recommend importing fire ants onto the property if you don't have them to begin with.

Good luck,

Dawn

I can only add keep the grass cut low and limbs cut high. Don't walk where you are brushing lower limbs so ticks can drop on you.

Avoid tall grass if all possible and treat your clothing when you have to.

Doing those simple things has drasically reduced the times we find ticks on our clothing or skin.

We don't put anything down. I've recorded 5 county records of moth and butterfly here and the main reason is there are no pesticides shotgunned around the property. We have an over aboundance of all kinds of wildlife. The only thing I do shotgun is beavers. :-)

Dawn,

Harvester ants are making a comeback here around my place. I've had two colonies the past two years on the property and a couple more near by. Keep thinking I will start seeing horned toads again.

randy

Randy,

We have had red harvester ants ever since we moved here, and I used to see horned toads when we came up on weekends to clear the property before we built the house. I suspect the horned toads are still here, but I haven't seen one in ages. (If you were a horned toad, would you let yourself be seen in a yard full of dogs, cats, chickens, and guineas?)

We started out with one mound of red harvester ants near the water faucet. They always bit me when I was at the water faucet, so I sprayed the ground around their mound with peppermint soap to repel them and then they packed up and moved about 100' away. Eventually more mounds appeared.

Their favorite place is the garden where I see them working merrily day in and day out. In the winter time, they spend a lot of time hauling away bits and pieces of hen scratch. It has been so dry here all fall and winter that there aren't many bugs, and the ants have to find them before the guineas and chickens do.

Dawn

Dawn,

Was the soap Dr. Bronner's or something similar?

randy

Sent this before I was ready. I've used Dr. Bronner's Baby Mild Liquid Soap as an insecticide soap before. I need to buy more.

randy

thanks. i put this on my desk top so i can find it easily and won't keep asking. :)

I try to not put tick stuff around my flowers or on lawn, but way in back. hopefully, due to clearing it out and replanting other stuff they won't bother us as much.

Jessaka,

You can keep asking about it all you want because you never know when somebody here will come across some new method (perhaps actually an old, organic or holistic folk remedy) that might help with the tick infestation.

To add to what Randy said, I have to say that in the couple of years that we owned this property and spent weekends up here clearing a huge amount of overgrown brush and trees before we built the house, we had ticks everywhere. All kinds of ticks. We also had tons and tons of cedar trees and I noticed that when I was working around the cedar trees that the cedars seemed covered in ticks and they'd jump from the trees down onto us whenever we were near a cedar tree.

Over the course of several years, we took out dozens and dozens (maybe hundreds) of cedar trees in the 3 or 4 acres closest to the house. We took them out for several reasons--mostly because they are invasive non-natives that compromise native plant populations, but also because they harbored so many ticks and are a huge fire threat (they burn like nobody's business and explode, sending burning sap flying through the air). Once the cedars around the house were gone, so were the ticks. So, if you have cedars nearby, be careful around them because they are tick hotels.

Randy,

It was Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Soap. I cannot begin to tell you how much I love all his liquid soaps.

The Peppermint Soap, originally recommended by Howard Garrett many years ago as a spray to divert ants from a pathway that people commonly use, has proved helpful in many ways. I don't spray it on plants because soap sprays are so hard on plants in our climate (you're braver than me), but I spray it on the ground as needed to repel ants, fleas and other pests.

When the dog yard gets an occasional flea infestation (usually because we've adopted a dumped dog with fleas), I spray the dog yard with either Dr. Bronner's peppermint of with orange oil, and I spray the perimeter around the house and barn/garage to keep ants out in wet years when they start trying to come into the houses.

I also wash the dogs every now and then with Dr. Bronners because it seems to repel fleas and ticks, and it gives the dogs a yummy smell. I wash the dogs' blankets from their crates where they sleep at night with peppermint soap too. For a old dog with very sensitive skin and lots of itchy rash issues, I use Dr. Bronner's Tea Tree Soap and for myself....the lusciously scented Dr. Bronner's Lavender Soap.

When Black Widows begin appearing and hanging out in the garage or tornado shelter, I spray the walls and crevices with orange oil or peppermint soap and it seems to repel them.

Randy, when you use the Dr. Bronner's Mild Baby soap, what dilution do you use? Do you spray it on your tropicals or on plants in the ground? There are times I'd like to use an insecticidal soap, but foliage burns so easily in our heat that I just hate to do it. If you are using it successfully, though, then maybe I just need to learn your secrets to success, if you'd care to share them.

Thanks,

Dawn

I know you can't have guineas, but could you have some ducks? They are also very effective tick eaters. They make less noise, especially the Muscovies. But on the down side, they make more mess. Even chickens help with ticks.

George

Dawn,

Think it was about 1/4 teaspoon per 2 gallons. I've not used it on landscape plants. I would select container plants and isolate them in full shade where they were out of the wind early in the morning and spray. If they were blooming plants they would go in the garage to keep good insects off them until they were dry. I would then wash them off with the hose to make sure there was no burning of new leaves.

I've been pondering getting peperment for the dogs and lavendar for the girls. :-)

randy

Randy,

Thanks. I'll keep those tips in mind in case it is a bag bug year, as it often is during times of drought.

I love Dr. Bronner's Soap, although the philosophy-filled labels are sort of goofy.

Dawn

I'm a Dr. Bonner's fan too! I've used it, diluted, on my dogs for years to keep fleas under control, and I swear it works as well or better than do chemicals, which I try to stay away from! We just rescued yet another dog who had fleas, and after a couple of baths for all the dogs - no more fleas. (I agree, his labels are awfully goofy!) In fact, when I lived in Mississsippi for a short time, I had a terrible time with fleas, so someone recommended Dr. Bonner's Peppermint soap and it took care of it completely. Unfortunately, it hasn't had the same affect on ticks... :-(

I hadn't thought of trying on the yard, or the mild soap on plants, but it's a great idea.

:-) Ada