How do I keep ticks out of my yard?

The edges, not the middle. Blacklegged ticks dry out in sun and heat, so they stay in the shaded, damp margins: leaf litter under trees and shrubs, tall grass along a fence line, the strip where the lawn meets woods, stone walls and woodpiles where mice live, and the ground under a deck. The CDC notes ticks are less likely to be found in bright, sunny areas, which is why a wide open lawn in the middle of the yard is the safest ground on the property and the play set tucked against the tree line is the worst.

Mow, clear, border, prune, fence. Keep the grass mowed. Remove leaf litter, which is where ticks and the mice that carry them spend the winter. Clear tall grass and brush around the house and the edge of the lawn. Put a 3-foot-wide barrier of wood chips or gravel between the lawn and wooded areas so ticks have to cross dry, hot ground to reach the grass. Trim trees and shrubs to let sunlight in. Keep deer out with fencing, because deer carry adult ticks in and drop them. Move play equipment, patios and seating away from the tree line and into the sun. Stack firewood neatly in a dry spot to give mice fewer places to nest. None of this is expensive, and together it changes how many ticks make it onto people.

On the edges, at the right times. A yard tick treatment targets the shaded perimeter, leaf litter, the base of stone walls and the woods edge where ticks quest, not the open lawn, and it works best on a yard that's already been cleaned up as above. Timing matters: the CDC notes nymphs are actively questing from April through July, and adults are active in fall and any winter day above freezing, so a spring application and a fall application cover the two peaks. Treatment reduces the tick population in the yard; it doesn't make a yard tick-free, and it doesn't replace checking people and pets.

The properties that need this most are the wooded North Shore lots in Huntington, Cold Spring Harbor, Setauket and Stony Brook, and the East End, where deer walk through the yard at dusk. But we find ticks in Massapequa and Wantagh backyards too, along a fence line with a neighbor's overgrown lot or a park behind the house. Bobby Bugs treats the perimeter and the shaded zones in spring and fall across Nassau and Suffolk. Tick work doesn't carry a guarantee, and the estimate is free.