The Patio Mistake That Could Be Inviting Ticks To Your Backyard Areas

It's common to find ticks anywhere you go outdoors during the summer, even in your backyard. To prevent you, your family, and your pets from succumbing to tick bites, which can result in Lyme disease, you want to familiarize yourself with the type of environment these pests prefer and what you can do to limit their presence in your yard. While you're perusing the many small patio ideas to spruce up your backyard and deciding which one you like the best, there's one particular mistake you definitely want to avoid so that you don't invite ticks to your backyard areas. Essentially, you want to keep your patio and deck areas away from the yard edges and any trees that you may have growing.

Having a barrier between your outdoor recreational spots, such as your patio and lawn, and any wooded areas around the perimeter of your yard, can effectively prevent the movement of ticks. This is especially the case if you keep your lawn nice and short because ticks don't really like short grass. These pests need cool, shady, and moist hiding places to survive and can't handle areas that are dry and directly exposed to bright sunlight. For this reason, you might want to consider placing a 3-foot-wide strip that you cover with gravel or wood chips between your patio and any treed spots in your yard. Having this barrier strip out in the open means that it would constantly be exposed to sunlight, making it a hostile environment for ticks.

Ticks are most often attracted to shady spots where they can hide, such as tall grass and piles of leaf litter. To keep the pests away, make sure that any grassy sections adjacent to your patio are kept nice and short. You also want to make sure that you rake up any leaves that may have accumulated around the edges of your lawn or patio. Try to avoid growing ground covers like barberry, ferns, and ornamental grasses around the edges of your patio if you want to keep ticks out of your yard. Compost piles and bird feeders are also among the most common things in your yard that could be luring ticks, so place these away from your patio and any shaded, grassy areas too.

If you have large trees that are not growing next to your patio but are close enough to add a bit of shade to your outdoor seating area, you might like to trim them back to reduce that shading. Keeping your patio well away from wooded and shrubby areas also means that there's less likelihood of wild animals such as deer or rabbits bringing ticks into your outdoor living space. Finally, you might even like to grow some highly fragrant herbs such as lavender, mint, and rosemary in large containers and place these around the edges of the patio to help deter ticks from the area.