I want to try diatomaceous earth in my yard. Does anyone know how well this works on ticks?

I just found out that our yard is infested with them.I want to try diatomaceous earth in my yard. Does anyone know how well this works on ticks?
Probably not that great on ticks, truthfully. It works pretty well on slugs, snails, caterpillars, and other soft bodied stuff. One big drawback is that rain washes it away, so you have to keep refreshing it. And watch out if you have a fish pond. It is very possible and easy (from a sad personal experience) to kill a whole pond full of fish with it.





I'd go with something like Sevin for the ticks. It's fairly environmentally friendly and will be more persistent than the DE.I want to try diatomaceous earth in my yard. Does anyone know how well this works on ticks?
Diatomaceous Earth won't work well. It is good for soft bodied pests, and it works fairly well for hard shelled insects indoors, but humidity reduces its effectiveness. It would probably work on the larvae more than the adults.





Rotenone and pyrethrins are organic pesticides you could try, but they are about as toxic as sevin when you apply them. They do break down a bit faster than sevin, but for ticks that would just mean using more.





I believe strongly in Earth care, but there is nothing green about catching Lyme disease or being afraid to leave your house.





Chickens are an ideal solution- they will eat many of the adult ticks and scratch the ground up to disrupt the life cycle of the larvae. If you encourage wild ground birds, they will help too.





The tick larvae need to live in the nest of a mammal- they can't travel far for their first meal. That is the place to break the pest cycle.