Why Homemade Flea and Tick Spray for Your Yard Won’t Work

You want to enjoy time in your yard in Northern Virginia. Who doesn’t – especially in summer?

This might involve sitting outside and listening to the birds sing and soaking in some warm sun or tossing the ball for the dog to fetch or spending some time with the kids playing outdoor games before they go back to school. You might have a firepit or water feature you like to admire while you’re out there, too. A little bit of time in nature is always good for the soul.

But there are some others who like to play in your yard in the warm weather, too: fleas and ticks. They hang out and can easily take advantage of opportunities to jump onto your pets or family members, hitching rides inside your home. On top of that, they also can carry some pretty nasty diseases. 

This can certainly put a damper on your summer plans. Who wants to be fearful every time they step outside?

That’s where yard flea and tick treatment in Northern Virginia can help, giving you peace of mind as you plan your garden parties and outdoor escapes. 

In fact, as you’re looking into ways to combat fleas and ticks, you might even come across some YouTube videos or online advice on how to make your own homemade flea and tick spray for yards. But this might bring up a lot of questions. Does it work? Is it easy to use? Can it really help eliminate fleas and ticks in my yard? 

You certainly don’t want to waste time and money on a homemade solution, and then still find yourself picking ticks off of your dog or finding them on your children’s clothes. What a pain that would be. 

Let’s talk about using DIY natural flea and tick spray for your yard, how it differs from other options, and how it helps fight fleas and ticks in Northern Virginia.

Fleas & Ticks: Your Enemies in Northern Virginia

Let’s start by talking about both of these pests and the impact they can have on you, your family members, and your pets in your Northern Virginia home. 

Education is the first step in fighting any bug problem in your landscape and better understanding yard flea and tick treatment in Northern Virginia.

Fleas in Northern Virginia

In Northern Virginia yards, fleas are wingless insects with long, flat bodies that feed on the blood of wild animals, your pets, and even your family members. 

Fleas become active when daytime temperatures remain consistently at or above 50 degrees Fahrenheit. They are tiny – 1 to 3 millimeters in length. And they know how to jump, leaping between 8 and 20 inches at a time. 

As temperatures rise, this is the same time when wild animals like deer, rabbits, squirrels, mice, possums, and raccoons begin foraging and moving into more yards. Fleas hitch rides on these wild critters as they travel in and out of your backyard, which brings them closer to your pets and your family members. Fleas prefer shady, moist areas. Your pet can pick up fleas outdoors in areas that have these humid conditions where they can thrive, including in grasses.

When fleas move from your yard to your dog and then into your house, they can swiftly make permanent residences in your furniture and carpets. In fact, fleas can multiply quickly, laying 2,000 eggs in a lifetime. The worst part about fleas is they can bring something a lot worse than itching and scratching: They are also a common source of some very serious illnesses, such as typhus or cat-scratch fever, among others.

That’s why finding a reliable yard flea and tick treatment in Northern Virginia is important.

Ticks in Northern Virginia

You’re not alone if you worry about ticks. Northern Virginia has an especially high density of ticks, and the Virginia Department of Health says tick-borne illnesses are on the rise. 

The ticks we find most often in this area include the lone star tick, the American dog tick, the brown tick, and the deer or blacklegged tick. The blacklegged tick is one to watch out for because it can carry lyme disease, but dog ticks and Lone star ticks can spread Rocky Mountain spotted fever and ehrlichiosis. In fact, ticks can transmit more diseases than any other blood-sucking pests. Limiting tick exposure with yard flea and tick treatment in Northern Virginia can help people avoid these potential diseases. 

Ticks feed on human and animal blood to survive. To find blood meals, ticks crawl up on tall weeds and grasses and use their third and fourth pairs of legs to hold on, reaching out their front legs to wait for people or animals to pass by so they can latch on. When you try to remove a tick, you want to remove the head and body together. Looking for early signs of tick-borne illnesses like fevers, chills, aches, headaches, fatigue, and rashes is also a good idea to stay ahead of any issues.

DIY Natural Flea and Tick Spray For Your Yard

We know how frustrating fleas and ticks can be. As a result, you might be searching for some options for taking control of the situation. What might come up are homemade flea and tick yard sprays. 

Whether you’re in a rush to take care of the problem and looking for natural products on the shelves, or you’re reading some online advice on making your own concoction. 

You don’t want to waste time on methods that don’t work, and in our experience many homemade remedies don’t do the job. But we can give you some advice on things you can do to limit populations in your yard. 

First, limit pest hangouts. Fleas and ticks like to hang out near wood piles, under decks, in tall grasses, and near other cooler, damp places. To reduce these bugs in your yard, make sure to rake up leaf piles, trim overgrown grasses and plants, and keep wood piles at least 20 feet from your home, patio, and children’s play areas.

Also, remember to protect yourself. When you’re out in taller grasses, wear long pants and sleeves, as well as bug spray to help avoid fleas and ticks.

Cedar Oil is the Answer for Flea and Tick Control

While many homemade flea and tick sprays for yards are not effective, we can tell you what natural product is effective at battling these pests: cedar oil.

Let’s learn more about how this product works.

How Cedar Oil for Flea and Tick Control Works

As you hang out in your landscape, yard flea and tick treatment in Northern Virginia may be something you want to try, but you might be worried about spraying chemicals in your landscape. 

Luckily, there is an organic mosquito and tick control option that works: cedar oil. This product is completely harmless to people and pets, but it’s super effective against fleas and ticks. 

How it works is it blocks the scent receptors of these pests, disrupting their whole systems.

How Cedar Oil Compares With Other Options

There are quite a few options available as you look for solutions to yard flea and tick treatment in Northern Virginia, but unfortunately not all of them are reliable or effective. 

Synthetic products can be hazardous, and this means they can’t always be applied everywhere in your yard, such as near your playground areas. Using cedar oil for pest control can be a great solution here. 

Then each time you spray cedar oil again, you target the home foundation, as well as areas people hang out like around patios, under decks, and around the property perimeter. This is a key area since there is a lot of wild animal activity there, and fleas and ticks travel on them to your yard.

Comparing Homemade Flea and Tick Yard Spray With Cedar Oil In It To Other Options

As you look for homemade flea and tick yard spray options, you might think you can take cedar oil and turn it into your own concoction since it works so well. 

Unfortunately, DIY options – even those containing cedar oil – haven’t proven very effective against fleas and ticks; high-end professional products are usually more potent. 

Another challenge is you have to know how fleas and ticks operate to effectively control them. This means fully treating areas they hang out in and using the right equipment, such as a backpack mister with a fine mist. This also means applying the product every 30 days from April to November to ensure pest populations remain down. 

Opting for professional mosquito and tick control services can save you some time and hassle here since they already have the equipment and high-end products, know the pests, and can give you some quick relief.

Choose Professional Yard Flea and Tick Treatment in Northern Virginia

If you’re looking for a safer, more effective way to tackle fleas and ticks in your yard, then hiring a professional who knows these pests and uses organic products can be a great option. 

You certainly don’t want your summer ruined by pests that carry diseases. We completely understand. 

You may want to battle fleas and ticks in your Northern Virginia yard, but have no idea where to start. Give Turf’s Up a call. We use a potent, organic, safe and effective cedar oil to control fleas and ticks in your home landscape. We know where these pests like to hang out and use quality equipment, showing up to your home on a regular schedule to control these bugs and keep them away all season long. 

We make it easy, so you can have a great time outdoors and feel confident that you’re protecting you and your family. 

Ready to learn why Turf’s Up could be your totally awesome choice for flea and tick control services in Northern Virginia? We’re stoked to learn more about you and help you eliminate your mosquito problem once and for all. Get started today with a free quote. Together, we can prepare a customized plan that is perfect for you and your yard. 

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