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What is the Best Way to Kill Fleas in the Yard?

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Whether you just want to care for your yard well or have pet animals that you want to protect, knowing what is the best way to kill fleas in the yard is the first step to eliminating fleas from your yard for good.

The fact is, however, that there is no single best way to kill fleas in your garden. You need to implement several measures before you can dream of a completely flea-free yard.

Not to worry, though! After finishing this article, you will understand what I, as a yard and garden owner, depend on to kill fleas in the yard and keep these pests from infesting it in the first place! Keep reading!

What should you know about fleas?

Let’s begin with the basics. What is a flea, and how do they function? Fleas are extremely small pests, rather parasites, extremely tiny in size, either dark brown or black, and move about from one host to the other by jumping. Thankfully, these bugs can not fly.

what is the best way to kill fleas in the yard

Now, fleas are particularly unhealthy insects to have anywhere around you, let alone just your yard, because they carry severe diseases and other parasites. These diseases can affect both your pets and you. Another annoying fact about these bugs is that you have to guard against them throughout the year.

What is the life cycle of a flea?

The life cycle of a flea is divided into four main stages. These stages begin with the egg stage, which hatches into larvae. These larvae develop into pupae and, ultimately, completely adult fleas.

It is worth remembering that an adult flea can deliver about fifty eggs daily. Therefore, it is essential to take action as soon as you discover a flea because where there is one, there is certainly bound to be more.

Where do fleas live outside your homes?

Fleas thrive in environments shielded from light and have a high humidity level. This explains why your yard makes for a perfectly good nesting spot for these bugs. You will often find that fleas are lurking about in your unkempt lawn or rows of shrubs and bushes in your yard.

They depend upon the organic matter they can eat on or preferably a host whose blood they can suck on for their sustenance. There is a good chance that stray animals or unhygienic animals that wander into your yard will deposit fleas into your yard and onto your pet.

How long can a flea infestation survive in your yard?

Even when a flea cannot find a host animal to survive on, these pests can live for over three months. However, in the absence of a host animal, fleas cannot reproduce.

Fleas often make their home in unkempt yards.

Therefore, there is a high chance that these bugs will die out by themselves if you keep unhygienic animals off your property and ensure that your pet stays free of these parasites.

If fleas do find a host animal, then within three to four days, you will have over fifty new fleas burgeoning on the animal and, consequently, in the vegetation in your yard.

This is why I would like to stress again that if you neglect the signs of flea infestation in its early stages, it becomes progressively more difficult to eliminate them!

In the next section, I have highlighted ways of detecting the signs of a flea infestation that you must be attentive toward.

How to detect flea infestations in your yard?

The obvious method is to try and spot these insects moving about in your plants. However, given that these bugs are very small in size and hide extremely well, that might prove to be difficult unless you have a large infestation already.

Therefore, a reliable method is to draw the fleas out by wearing white socks or stockings and standing in your yard. The chances are that fleas will be attracted to the light color and jump onto it. Once they do, it becomes easier for you to spot them on the contrasting white fabric!

If you have a pet, noticing a flea infestation in their fur might answer your question about having fleas in the yard.

Excessive itchiness, clusters of red spots, or insect bites on your pet’s skin are two of the most common symptoms of flea infestation. In some cases, your pet can contract tapeworms from these parasites along with several other diseases.

What is the best way to kill fleas in the yard?

On to the overbearing question to be answered in this article, what is the best way to kill fleas in the yard? As I mentioned earlier in the article, there is no single method that you can use, but rather an assortment.

You will have to try some of these methods to see whether they are effective for your particular case of flea infestation or not.

What is the best way to kill fleas in the yard?

I have divided the following methods into natural ways to kill fleas in the yard and killing fleas in the yard using chemicals. Depending on how severe the infestation is and what kind of risk using chemicals in your yard could pose, you will be able to determine what the best way to kill fleas in the yard could be!

Natural ways to kill fleas in the yard

Nematodes

Using natural predators of fleas is a fantastic way to ensure that the flea population in your yard dies regardless of which stage of its life cycle it is in. Nematodes are these natural subterranean predators of fleas, flea eggs, flea larvae, and adult fleas.

Diatomaceous earth

Diatomaceous earth

A potent natural way to kill fleas in your yard is to use diatomaceous earth. This substance is composed of the fossils of marine creatures and is extremely effective in killing fleas and other common household pests!

Controlling the passage of flea-bearing animals

Animals infested with fleas experience intense itching.

Putting up fences around your yard can play an essential role in ensuring that other flea-bearing animals don’t drop these parasites into your yard.

Deep cleaning your yard

Maintaining a healthy lawn and bushes in your yard can significantly reduce flea infestations.

Using a lawnmower and raking up any dead leaves that these parasites can survive off periodically can do a lot to kill these fleas by exposing them into the open and killing them gradually. It will also prevent fleas from entering or infesting your yard in the future.

Using insecticides or chemical flea treatment plans for your yard

The best chemical way to kill fleas in your yard is to contact a professional pest control service to spray and treat your yard with insecticides.

This is advisable only when you have a large flea infestation since these chemicals are quite strong and can cause damage to your yard vegetation and your pet animal’s health.

How can you kill fleas in the yard without harming your plants and pets?

When it comes to killing fleas in your yard without harming your plants and pets, your best bet is to stick to natural methods of killing these pests. The fact is that when using natural methods to kill fleas in the yard, you have to be consistent.

Maintaining a clean and well-groomed yard along with adding nematodes, diatomaceous earth, and keeping your animals free of pests are things that you must fit into your yard maintenance routine.

Conclusion

When answering the question of the best way to kill fleas in the yard, you must remember that it is a set of ways to give you a yard free of fleas.

Before reaching a stage where you have to depend on insecticidal treatments for your yard, you should try to control the flea population in its initial stages using natural methods of killing fleas!

About the author

A biotechnologist by profession and a passionate pest researcher. I have been one of those people who used to run away from cockroaches and rats due to their pesky features, but then we all get that turn in life when we have to face something.