Recommendations on bio-rational control/deterrent methods for ticks?

OrganicApproach

OrganicApproach

Location
Lancaster, PA
One of my clients has a well manicured yard that transitions abruptly to a wooded fringe near his children's playset. Any ideas or experience with non chemical methods/materials to achieve suppression of tick activity on the perimeter of his property?
 
Agree about the turkeys and hens. I like borrowing a holistic management view. Nudge the forest environment to favor turkeys (oak trees), owls (to kill off mice and small rodents that ticks eat on. encourage by making pocket openings owls can swoop and hunt in); discourage deer (beats me how), etc.

I have also heard some bushes and grasses are prime for the ticks to climb and attach to passers. Japanese Barberry is corrolated with high tick counts, for one example.

Most of these insights are just my common sense, I don't know if they are founded. Yet in making one small clearing near our home with the owls and hawks in mind, that very night an owl was there hooting. They certainly are quick in finding new hunting areas. So I also leave prime hawk perches, (stout branches on Cedar snags) with lots of open space around them. Again, I seem to find a pattern; a hawk, very showily swooping in right in front of me within a few weeks of making that perch.

It's a great question. This is a great area for trial and results. Holistic Management provides a great context for these type of gradual flora adjustments to shift the fauna.
 
I've heard biologists do tick counts by walking around with a big piece (3'x3'?) of white felt with the sides sleeved onto two poles for handles and to keep it spread out in front of you as you walk. That might be worthwhile for assessing the magnitude of the problem and pin pointing problem areas. My understanding is ticks need moisture, so if it's dry, they tend to go to the ground rather than "praying" on vegetation in hopes of hitching a ride on a host, i.e. don't do a tick count on a hot, dry afternoon.

Why not just move the playset away from the wooded fringe if the concern is the kids getting ticks?
 
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If he's going to have turkeys, chickens, guinea fowl, hawks, owls and possums, might as well get some dogs to run off the deer, cats to help with mice and some donkeys for the coyotes. I'm sure that will solve the problem. Kids won't play outside because of all the poop.
 
Can’t find it but there was a good study in one of the sci journals a few years back comparing yard sprays for ticks. Mult essential oils and one of the common pesticides for reference. Wish I could find it but cedar was a top one as was oregano which surprised me. None of them had the staying efficacy of the rugged pesticides, I think about 2 weeks per application.
 
Serf Life said:
Can’t find it but there was a good study in one of the sci journals a few years back comparing yard sprays for ticks. Mult essential oils and one of the common pesticides for reference. Wish I could find it but cedar was a top one as was oregano which surprised me. None of them had the staying efficacy of the rugged pesticides, I think about 2 weeks per application.
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Yes biorational spray methods almost always need re-apped at 2+ week intervals, but if you shoot for peak life stages of whatever you're targeting you can do well. I've successfully beat japanese beetles off of fruit trees with garlic and hot pepper wax for years, and garlic and other oils work well for mosquito deterrence as well, especially if you can lob your spray up into some high trees so the scent package can "circulate" down on the air for the next few weeks
 
I’m going to spray our lawn this year and see how it goes, so many deer and dog ticks! I already have a batch of clove oil for mouse deterrent fluid film undercoating which I’ll try out, then probably cedar oil.

Connecticut cooperative ext has good tick related resources on property management etc. 3’ perimeter of chips or gravel around lawn/play area is recommended, couldn’t find studies where it was mixed with diatomaceous earth @ATH but that was my thought too. Worst parts about Maine by far are deer ticks and Lymes!
 
Serf Life said:
...., couldn’t find studies where it was mixed with diatomaceous earth @ATH but that was my thought too. Worst parts about Maine by far are deer ticks and Lymes!
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I was asking more than "suggesting". I haven't seen any specific recommendations for ticks, but it does make a good insect barrier...so seems like it would enhance other barriers for ticks?
 
Gotta stack the deck against the buggers. I haven’t read a peer reviewed study showing that fowl significantly decrease the population though Guinea hens are billed as the end all and some neighbors swear by them, but must help some. I’m curious about prescribed burns where feasible.
 
Serf Life said:
Gotta stack the deck against the buggers. I haven’t read a peer reviewed study showing that fowl significantly decrease the population though Guinea hens are billed as the end all and some neighbors swear by them, but must help some. I’m curious about prescribed burns where feasible.
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www.nature.com

Frequent Prescribed Fires Can Reduce Risk of Tick-borne Diseases - Scientific Reports

Recently, a two-year study found that long-term prescribed fire significantly reduced tick abundance at sites with varying burn regimes (burned surrounded by burned areas [BB], burned surrounded by unburned areas [BUB], and unburned surrounded by burned areas [UBB]). In the current study, these...
www.nature.com www.nature.com
 
Awesome article!
“Of note, small-scale, singular burns would not achieve these results and in fact could cause an increased number of ticks in an area due to influx of hosts using the early successional habitat7,40. Instead, Gleim et al.43 found that the forest structure achieved in this study (i.e. lack of mid-story and semi-open canopy) through regular, long-term prescribed fires resulted in a drier microclimate at ground-level which was critical to achieving the sustained tick reductions”
 
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