Hey that's interesting - never thought wearing pants might inhibit your feeling the ugly blood suckers were there! I will follow the recommendation...

I was pretty sure bugs were going to be bad this year because of the mild winter we had...found out for sure when I, dumbbell that I am, went for a walk in a woodsy area near my house without any bug spray. Let me just say that I was literally crawling with ticks by the time I got back to my car. My husband and I both were doing a crazy little dance (visible to all passing by) trying to get them off of us. And I have long hair, so I was petrified that there would be a million attached to my head. I have never had that many ticks on me at one time ANYTIME in my life. YUCK! I love most of the creatures God made - but why'd he have to make the TICK??? I don't love it, that's for sure. Definitely the strong stuff for me, too.

Jill

Ticks have been out thick down here for quite a while. Those little seed ticks are the worst!! We don't use any anti-tick goop but we do check each other out often. We look like a pack of monkeys sitting around grooming each other. LOL

HOw about wearing long pants and tucking them into your socks? It looks odd (but that's in style these days...), but it has worked for us...

I am just shuddering. On Saturday I went out to move the hoses - that's all. I had a cold and was feeling sorry for myself. I felt one on the lower part of my hair. It was so gross. We treat the dogs, but the tick could have ridden on the dogs' fur, and fallen off around me.

When I work farther out in the yard, I wear my rubber boots, and spray them with Off. I am so ready to spray the entire yard, but think that is so unwise. The birds do not know how kind I am being. Do you do anything to your yard? Before I knew what I was doing, I used to spray Diazinon on the entire yard in the spring. Now, that doesn't seem like a good idea - even to spray something new since Diazinon has been phased out.
Sammy

I apply beneficial nematodes to my soil every spring. It seems to help a lot. And, yes, beneficial nematodes are very expensive to use on large land areas, but I think they are worth it. I also spread DE in the fenced-in dog run. I've heard that spreading sulfur over the soil using a fertilizer spreader helps with ticks, fleas and chiggers, but I've never tried it myself.

We had billions of ticks when we bought our property in 1997, and we've worked hard to control them, with some success, at least in the more civilized acres around the house. I am sure the wild woodland areas are still full of ticks but I stay out of those wilder areas during snake and tick season.

In the more civilized areas of land, the 2-4 acres that surround the house, yard, garden, barn and ponds, I keep the grass cut short and that helps a lot. The guineas and hens help keep this area free of ticks & fleas too.

I bathe my dogs with one of Dr. Bronner's natural soaps to repel ticks. Usually I use the peppermint one, but sometimes I use the lavendar one. Sometimes I will add a little orange oil. I won't say my dogs are completely tick-free, but the only time they get ticks is when they go off into the wilder wooded areas.

I don't like spraying any chemical on my skin, but I will spray Deep Woods Off on my shoes, socks and pants when I am mowing in a semi-wild area further away from the house.

With a drought looming, and lots of grasshoppers and ticks on the prowl, I am afraid we are in for a long, long summer.

Dawn

Hi Sammy

I donÂt use pesticides outside of the greenhouse and then they are only used in late winter. I love having a robust population of predators on the property. If I have a small infestation of aphids show up on something, in 10 minutes time I can gather a jar of Lady Beatles to combat the problem.

When I lived in town, all I saw were pests when it came to insects. Here in a rural environment I have 100 times the bug population, but donÂt have near the bug problem I did in town when it comes to plants. I think the use of pesticides perpetuates the need for pesticides. The more you use them, the more you need them.

randy

Randy, I work very hard not to spray, and if I do use anything, it's insecticidal soap. I have tons and tons of beneficials. I was looking at my big Japanese black pine this last weekend, and literally everywhere I looked, there were ladybugs in their transformation stage as far as my eye could see. The lacewings are here, too. The eggs are so cool looking. I had more praying mantids that I could shake a fist at last year, and damsel beetles, too.

I left the orange aphids on my milkweed to attract the beneficials last year, and in paid off threefold. I had more ladybugs and lacewings than I have ever seen before.

Of course, I grow larval and nectar plants for the butterflies and moths, so I can't really spray or use chemicals.

Susan

Randy,

I agree with you that the use of pesticides perpetuates the need for more pesticides, and I believe it is because the use of pesticides wipes out the good predator bugs.

Like you, we have so many more insects and bugs in the country than we did in the city, but they aren't pests in the garden and landscape like they were in town. I mean, they are there, but they don't seem to be a problem. I can only assume that the beneficial insects keep the bad ones under control.

We also have tons and tons more reptiles/amphibians in the country. I don't know if it is because there is a bigger food supply for them here, or because we don't use chemical pesticides, or what. We have every kind of snake, lizard, frog, toad, turtle, newt, etc. that you can imagine.

And of all the silly recommendations, I agree that the "wear long pants" one is not practical for those of us who garden in the heat of a long, Oklahoma summer. So is the one to "wear long-sleeved shirts". Don't expect to see me out in my yard in July or August in long sleeves and long pants!!!

I wonder what beneficial insect preys upon ticks and chiggers??? There must be something, other than beneficial nematodes, but I don't know what.

Dawn

Leaving the aphids on your milkweed is an excellent idea, susanlynne. I hate squishing them anyway. I never thought that it might attract ladybugs and such. Have you ever lost any milkweed because of the aphids? I love my milkweed. I have been slowly adding more butterfly plants - they're awesome.

No, not because of the aphids. I got tired of it late last year, it just wasn't very nice looking, so I yanked it out. I need to get another one. I had the incarnata (pink) but it never did bloom. At least I've got tons of ladybugs, though. I've heard that the species orange blooming one is the most attractive to Monarchs and Queens anyway, so I'm going to pick up one of those.

Susan

I have the Asclepias tuberosa, if that's what you're talking about. They tend to look a bit ratty sometimes, too, but I guess they'll just have to. I love the monarchs. Maybe everything else pretty I have growing will hide them a bit. When I get seeds, I can save some for you if you like. I remember Lowe's had some one year - that's where I got mine. I have the incarnata, too - mine haven't flowered yet, either. But, I grew mine from seed. They should flower this year, as it's their second year in the ground. I did find some incarnata plants at Atwoods, amazingly, and bought one. Never seen it anywhere. I like Atwoods because of that - before they kill their plants, sometimes they have some interesting things.

I have an Althea in a bed next to the porch that is always covered with aphids real early in the spring. The first few years we lived here it drove me almost crazy to see it being abused so badly. Because there are 5 hives of honey bees on the property, I wasnÂt going to use any pesticides. Just when I thought I was going to loose the battle, a few Lady Beatles would show up on the plant. In a matter of a week you couldnÂt tell there was ever a problem. Now I donÂt even pay attention to it.

Toward the end of winter I quit spraying pesticides on my tropical hibiscus in the greenhouse just to provide food for the Lady Beatles. If I have a few nasty looking plants, it seems to draw them in and keep everything looking decent through the summer. My daughter loves to go catch them with Dad tagging along carrying the holding jar. ItÂs one of those deep father daughter bonding moments similar to the first night of the season catching "blinkin bugs". I wonder how much longer I get to enjoy those?

randy

Dawn, tell me more about the DE for pets. I heard about it a long time ago, reading OGF back in the 1970's but never tried it. Any downside to it? How much do you use?

The hospitals here are already seeing tick-borne illnesses so be real careful about the critters!

I agree about using chemicals, but I don't know of anything but chemicals that get thrips. After awhile I get tired of squishing aphids, so I will spray just the buds and blooms with an insecticide - a biggie, not soap. I would never put it in with my fungicide.

I am still not sure what I want to do around the house if we see more ticks.
Sammy

hey here is an out of the box idea.

Tick researchers use dry ice(solid co2) to attract ticks to do research. They put out a tarp, open the cooler of dry ice, and go to town to have a cup of coffee. When they come back the tarp is crawling with ticks, Scoop them up, take them to Stillwater and do their research. How about a periodic tick roundup and use a natural spray to treat and kill them once they are concentrated in one area? Take the video camera and have great footage for next Halloween.

Paul

I buy the food-grade DE, which is a really fine powder, and put it out on the ground using a fertilizer spreader. Seems to help. I don't really put it out at any specific rate--just guessing. I have heard of people dusting in onto their dog's fur, but I don't think I'd do that. Also, it is not good to inhale it, so wear a little mask when you put it out!

Nothing takes care of ticks like the guineas, though!

Dawn