Unseasonably warm Aprils now wake hungry nymph ticks weeks
before school lets out across Northern Virginia. That extended questing window
raises odds of two very different problems: Lyme disease—still treated nearly
half-a-million times a year nationwide—and the fast-growing red-meat allergy
called alpha-gal syndrome. Both begin with a bite that most likely happens
within your own fence line, not deep in the woods.
Ticks love tall, damp, shaded grass. Keep turf near three inches with weekly
cuts and bag the clippings so they never compost into a tick blanket. Lower
humidity plus sudden sunlight equal hostile habitat that dries nymphs before
they can latch on.
Build the Buffer
Lay a three-foot ribbon of gravel or wood chips where lawn meets woods or
ornamental beds. Mice, chipmunks, and deer hesitate to cross the hot, abrasive
strip, leaving hitchhiking ticks stranded outside your play zone.
Prune and Plant for Light
Thin shrubs, limb low branches, and swap deer-candy hostas for rosemary,
catmint, yarrow, or switchgrass. More midday sun dries soil; fewer deer mean
fewer adult ticks laying eggs beside your patio furniture and swing set.
Time Your Treatments
Permethrin tick tubes in April and August target larvae on mice; cedar-oil
mists after May and September mowings hit nymphs while pollinators rest. Finish
yard work with a shower, a ten-minute high-heat dryer cycle, and tweezers by
the mirror.
Protect family, pets, and weekend barbecues before the first hamburger hits the grill.
Read the full article → https://medium.com/@mowcowva/tick-time-ticking-earlier-yard-strategies-to-dodge-rising-alpha-gal-lyme-cases-4d816715608e
