According to the Wikipedia definition, fleas are small brown insects that are about 3mm long when mature. They don’t have wings, but possess hind legs for jumping, and have chewing mouthparts which are useful for piercing the skin of their hosts and feeding on their blood. They love to take refuge in warm, shady places. Too much exposure to the sun or water will kill them.
“How to treat fleas in yard?” is a common question, if you have pets like dogs or cats. Because it is very likely that there are fleas residing in your pets’ warm fur. To make it worse, they may jump elsewhere and spread over the house into blankets, carpets, and even clothes. As long as your pets play around the yard or sleep there, fleas will also take the opportunity to invade the yard.
Should you notice fleas indoors, it is fairly easy to do something about it as the space is small and manageable. In case of the yard, fleas are more difficult to identify as the area is larger and fleas have more room to hide. Despite this, it is not impossible to deal with fleas in the yard. You may need to invest a little more time and effort on this task, but if you are determined enough to get rid of a flea infestation, it is absolutely worth trying and the results will be rewarding. We will now go into more detail about how to treat fleas in yard safely and effectively.
Locate fleas in the yard
Before you get started with the question “how to treat fleas in yard?”, you will need to locate the areas where fleas are most likely to be hiding. The yard is spacious and fleas will not spread equally everywhere. Remember that they love to stay in warm and moist places which are not directly exposed to sunlight. Pets are the favorite host of fleas. Check out where pets frequently play in the yard and those will be the places that are probably most densely populated by fleas. Shady, grassy areas, the compost heap or piles of leaves are the most likely residence of the bloodsuckers.
A recommended trick is to wear white socks while you are searching for fleas in the yard. They may try to attach to you by clinging to the white socks and their tiny brown or black bodies will be easy to see against the white of the socks. It is very important to note that trying to treat fleas in the yard must come after you have figured out where they are, otherwise it will be a waste of time and effort to try to treat the entire yard.
Prepare the yard for treatment
You’ve first got to make sure that your pets are free of fleas before thinking of dealing with fleas in your yard. The reason is simple. If your pets still have fleas, sooner or later they will spread those insects over the yard again and your time and effort will have been wasted. Once pets have been treated for fleas, keep them out of the yard. Keep your children away too, while you are busy. You can now start mowing the grass, removing weeds and debris, stacking wood that is lying around and clearing away any piles of fallen leaves. The yard should be kept tidy and free of too many overhanging branches so that the sun can reach the ground and there are fewer places for fleas to hide.
It is not necessary to treat the entire garden area. Instead, focus on the places where your pets often hang out. Cleaning and arranging things neatly will be adequate to get rid of a certain number of fleas. In order to eradicate them completely, insecticides are your best option when getting rid of fleas in your garden.
Apply insecticides to the yard
Toxic chemicals will kill fleas right away, but you need to be careful to select insecticides that are high quality and safe for human and pets. Read the manual or follow the instructions on the label to use the chemicals safely. Protect yourself by wearing a mask, gloves and protective clothing while spraying flea-concentrated areas.
You may prefer to use organic pesticides that are more environmentally friendly and safer. You can source these using the Internet or local suppliers. Diatomaceous Earth (DE) is one of these non-toxic treatments for fleas in your yard. You could use a spreading tool to spread the fine dust in areas where you suspect fleas are living. However, bear in mind that DE will not work on rainy days or in wet weather.
Flood the yard
Fleas prosper in moist places, but cannot survive in flooded areas. Mature fleas can be killed with insecticides and water will finish the rest of the task of clearing their eggs and larvae. After mowing your lawn, you may pump in water to flood the entire yard. This will not only kill the fleas but also wash away all the feces. Rainy days could help you with this as natural water from the sky will help to clean and get rid of all flea offspring. For sunny or dry seasons, you’ll have to flood the yard yourself.
Utilize nematodes
Nematodes are natural enemies of fleas. They are microscopic worms that are harmless to humans, animals, and plants. Feeding on flea larvae while not being able to resist direct sun exposure, nematodes could be sprayed in any shady spaces where fleas are noticed. Treating fleas in your yard is safe and effective with nematodes.
Cedar wood chips
This is another natural option to consider to help you with treating fleas in your yard. They cannot stand the scent of cedar wood chips. Sprinkle these chips over the areas that fleas are around. Cedar wood chips could be turned into a finer sawdust and sprinkled next to neighboring fences to prevent potential fleas from entering your yard.
Professional treatment
If you have no time to deal with fleas in the yard yourself or not successful after applying some of the treatment options above, professional help from the companies specializing in insect control is your next option. It will cost you some money, but you will certainly save time and effort. You will also usually obtain satisfactory results, and you’ll no longer need to worry about fleas. Next time you notice a flea infestation in your yard, just pick up the phone and call for the professionals. They will come and eradicate them safely.
Prevention of fleas in your yard
Whatever you do to treat fleas in your yard, it’s best if they have no chance to invade your living space in the first place. There are several things you can do the stop them from frequenting your yard.
First, remove any moist conditions of the yard by watering correctly- neither too much nor too little. Of course, flooding the lawn may kill flea eggs and larvae, but doing that too often will harm your lawn as well. Therefore, correct watering will help the lawn grow while keeping it dry enough to deter fleas from hiding or breeding.
Second, mow the lawn regularly, and trim or prune the shrubs and trees to expose the soil to more sunlight. Fleas will have no place to hide and will not be able to survive under the heat of the sun.
Third, plant lavender or pennyroyal, which is a member of the mint family. Both of these things are disliked by fleas. They are natural remedies to keep fleas away. One note of caution: pennyroyal is poisonous to cats if ingested, so if you have cats, then rather choose another method of flea prevention.
You should now have a better idea of how to treat fleas in yard. Remember to start treating for fleas as soon as you notice the first one. This will prevent the infestation from getting out of hand. You can absolutely do it yourself if you’re not too busy, otherwise you can always call in the experts. Thanks for reading!
About indoor gardening read more at Comfy Home Corner.
Thanks for reading!
