Not much can bring an abrupt interruption to enjoying a beautiful spring day like finding a tick crawling on your body, or even worse, looking to extract its next meal from you. To keep the spring vibe going strong without intrusions from ticks, it is important to take a proactive approach.
The ideal tick prevention program starts in the springtime and continues through the summer and into the fall, with applications roughly every 3-4 weeks. A consistent schedule ensures that ticks are targeted at each stage of their life cycle, while also creating a population knockdown effect, which means there are ultimately less ticks able to reproduce the next generation. Barefoot Yard’s Tick and Mosquito Spray is an ideal All-Natural solution that can be applied at every stage of the season.
Why Spring applications are important
Ticks go dormant when temperatures are below freezing, often finding shelter in leaf litter and brush to stay close to the warm ground. Once temperatures begin to warm and any snow cover has melted, ticks reactivate and females start setting up for the next generation of ticks by laying their eggs. Treating before the females have a chance to lay eggs will work to eliminate the next generation of ticks before they even start.
Before the first spring application, wait until the snow has melted and the ground has dried out, usually around May. Any time prior and you’ll end up wasting a treatment.
Why Fall applications are important
Fall is when the nymph tick transforms into an adult and prepares for reproduction, which will begin the life cycle again. Eggs are fertilized in the fall and deposited in leaf litter the following spring, so fall treatments end this cycle and set your yard up for fewer ticks next spring. The idea is to treat the ticks before they lay their eggs to reduce the chance of a tick explosion next spring.
Consistency pays in the battle against ticks. When you eliminate the adult ticks before they can lay their eggs, eliminate the eggs before they hatch, or even eliminate ticks before they can fertilize their eggs, you are reducing the tick population at vital stages of their life cycle. This means you will not only see a reduction in the current season, but you prevented the cycle from continuing the following year.