Flea & Tick Control and your Lawn: Does it Work?

As a company that offers pest control services (or exterminators, using older terminology) and lawn care services, we get a lot of requests to spray lawns for fleas.  Many lawn care companies offer Flea & Tick Control treatments which they apply to lawn areas.

The promise of reducing fleas on your property with using this method is not even a half measure. It is simply not the way to get rid of fleas. In most cases, we recommend a different approach to flea prevention and treatment, and ticks are not going to be easily found in lawn areas (click here to learn common places you will find ticks). There are two basic ways some lawn care companies apply insecticide treatments to a lawn; a granular insecticide, and a liquid insecticide.

Granular Flea Control for your Lawn?

When granular insecticide is typically used on the lawn, the active ingredient of that material is moisture activated, and the material dissolves into the soil, which helps to eliminate pests that feed on grass plants. The material gets absorbed by the grass plants, which is why granular applications are effective in killing chinch bugs, grubs, and other plant feeding insects on the grass plant’s root system or grass blades. From a lawn care perspective, the material works systemically and kills the lawn feeding insects as they begin to feed on the grass plants. Unfortunately, granular lawn applications will have little to no impact on active flea populations because these insects do not ingest plant parts or fluids. Granules will settle down within the thatch layer and dissolve from that point down. Fleas may not be located that deeply in the grass.

Spraying Lawns for Fleas?

Another alternative is making a liquid flea control application to your lawn for fleas. This is also largely ineffective for a number of reasons, the first of which is that direct sunlight and moisture break pesticides down very quickly. It’s for this reason that most lawn-damaging insects are typically treated with granular products.

While you could kill fleas at the time of the liquid flea control application, the residual effects of a liquid lawn application are very quickly diminished. Liquid insecticide materials may be absorbed by grass plants, which could help if insects are feeding on the lawn, but again this is not the case with fleas. Spraying lawns for fleas also will not address flea eggs, nor will it reduce continuous reproduction, which is should be your goal in any flea elimination strategy. In addition to sunlight and moisture, liquid applications also disappear when the grass is mowed, so no matter what the conditions, the material is typically gone after one or two mows of the lawn.

The Best Prevention for Fleas

What is the best way to break the flea life cycle? Eliminate the ability of fleas to remain on your pet, and eliminate indoor flea infestations. The more important of these two things is eliminate the ability for your pet to be the host animal and source of flea breeding. This is done by taking corrective action on your pets. If your pet is heavily infested with fleas, you may need to take an aggressive approach in killing the fleas on the animal with a dip treatment at your veterinarian.

All flea feeding and breeding takes place on the animal itself, and then the eggs will drop off of the animal onto the floor of the home. If there are huge numbers of fleas on your pet, consult your vet for recommendations about how to correct the problem. Once you have taken corrective action, follow it up with regular use of a topical insecticide to prevent further flea infestation. Again, follow vet recommendations, but remember that these topical insecticides are designed to prevent flea infestation on pets, not eliminate active flea infestations. These treatments are so effective in killing fleas, that the pest control industry saw a dramatic decrease in pest control inquiries for flea extermination, after the product’s introduction into the pet care market a couple decades ago. It’s simply the best first defense against fleas.

Flea Control and your Home

If you end up with a flea infestation in your home, indoor flea control treatments can kill fleas quickly and reduce the chances of eggs hatching in the following weeks. However, this is not a substitute for the prevention needed on your pet. Unlike your lawn, indoor insecticide and growth regulator applications can be very effective in breaking the flea life cycle.

All of the variables mentioned above (direct sunlight, moisture, mowing) do not exist inside your home, so with indoor applications, the materials will work as they are designed to.  It is always best to prevent flea infestations by applying topical insecticides to your pets, following the recommendation of your vet, during the warm weather months. Ultimately, the flea infestation begins and ends on your pets. If you feel you have an indoor infestation of fleas in your home in Lancaster, Lebanon, York, or Dauphin County, PA, please contact us.

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