5 Best Tick Sprays for Yard (Safe for Pets)

Ticks are not only gross but they are horrible disease-carriers.

To safeguard the health of your family members including your pets, spraying the yard with a pet-safe flea and tick yard treatment is invaluable.

The problem is that most of the products sold are not safe for use around pets.

Using a toxic one can wreak havoc on your dog or cat beating the original purpose of the spray.

This is why I have reviewed five of the best tick sprays for yard that are safe for your pets.

Choosing the Best Tick Sprays for Yard

To select the best tick spray that will help you eliminate ticks from your yard without harming your pets, you need to consider a few key features, including:

1. Safety

One of the most important factors that you need to keep in mind when choosing tick sprays yard, especially if you have pets, is safety.

Many synthetic tick sprays for yards are formulated with dangerous active ingredients like bifenthrin, permethrin, lambda-cyhalothrin, and zeta-cypermethrin among others.

If you have pets that spend time in your yard, you should avoid sprays with such active ingredients.

Instead, choose more natural solutions that will help you keep ticks out of your yard without putting your pets and environment at risk.

(To make your work easier, I have only listed natural tick sprays in this post)

Natural tick sprays are formulated with ingredients like cedarwood oil, sesame oil, clove oil, and peppermint oil to repel and kill ticks.

While such natural active ingredients might not be quite as heavy-hitting as those that are used to formulate synthetic sprays, they are worth it for your pet’s safety—and you can always combine with other pet-safe tick repellants for improved efficacy. 

2. Indoor vs. Outdoor Protection Capacity

Another important thing to consider is the fact that sprays designed for indoor use won’t be effective as they tend to break down under weather elements like rain, snow, and high humidity.

Additionally, like any other item, not all outdoor tick sprays are created equal.

Some types of sprays (like Methoprene) will work better in shaded areas but break and become less effective when exposed to sunlight.

The best sprays to go for are those that contain pyrethrins, pyriproxyfen, and fenoxycarb.

Pyrethrins kill ticks and other insects by attacking their nervous systems while pyriproxyfen and fenoxycarb control tick infestation by attacking juvenile ticks, denying them the opportunity to molt into adults.

3. Size of the Yard

Most tick sprays for yards are measured in terms of the square feet that they can cover.

So, to choose the right spray, it is pertinent to know the square footage of your yard.

If your yard is 15,000 square feet, for instance, and you opt for a tick spray that is indicated to treat 5000 square feet, you need to purchase three bottles. And if your yard is bigger, you will need to budget for more.

And if you decide to buy spray options that need to be diluted to a proper strength (they are also referred to as concentrates), you need to choose appropriate batches that will cover the area you need to treat.

Best Tick Sprays for Yard (Safe for Pets)

1. Wondercide Ready to Use Yard Tick & Flea Spray

The first product on the list is the Wondercide Flea & Tick Yard Spray.

With a blend of natural ingredients only, this spray is safe for pets and children. It is an essential oil with cedarwood being the active ingredient.

When you apply it in your yard, a number of insects including ticks and fleas will not come near it.

It is also quite easy to use – simply attach the bottle on a hose and turn on the water supply. The water will automatically pick up the oil and mix with it as you spray the yard.

Wondercide can treat 4,000 – 5,000 square feet and should be applied twice within a period of 7-10 days to eradicate pests completely.

2.  Eco Defense Tick and Flea Spray for Yard

When looking for the best pet-safe tick spray for your yard, you should consider Eco Defense Tick and Flea Yard Spray.

It uses an effective formula that kills ticks, fleas, mosquitoes, and other bugs from the surface and the soil.

This formula is plant-based and uses natural ingredients that are not only pet-safe but environmentally friendly as well.

If you are concerned about your kids and dogs playing in the yard after treatment, this product will put your concerns to rest.

This product comes ready to use. The container is also lightweight (only 2.5 pounds).

When you are ready to treat your yard, attach the container to a hose and get spraying.

One container covers up to 5,000 square feet.

3.   Vet’s Best Flea & Tick Yard and Kennel

Vet’s Yard Spray is another effective tick spray for yard safe for pets.

Using a blend of natural oils such as clove oil and peppermint oil, the spray carefully extracts and gets rid of ticks, fleas, and their eggs when it comes in contact with them. 

The process is all-natural, meaning that the spray does its work without harming your pet, flowers, trees, and shrubs.

It is super-concentrated and can cover up to 4500 square feet.

Experts recommend using this product throughout the year for 100% protection from pests.

4.   Natural Chemistry Yard & Kennel Spray

Made with cinnamon oil, cedarwood oil, and clove oil, the natural Yard & Kennel Spray kills ticks, fleas, black flies, and mosquitoes located in your yard.

Like the rest of the entries on this list, this formula is free of harsh chemicals. You can use it around dogs of all sizes. Your kids can play right after you treat your yard.

Plus, it can be sprayed on patio/pool areas, trees, outdoor surfaces, and more.

It works by killing pests as soon as it comes into contact with them and its effects last up to seven days.

This spray comes in 32 ox bottle and can treat up to 4,500 square feet.

5.  Ortho Home Defense Fleas & Ticks Killer for Indoor and Perimeter

Finally, the Ortho Home Defense Insect Killer offers up to one year-protection against ticks, fleas, roaches, ants, and spiders both outdoors and indoors (on non-porous surfaces).

Pests love to make their way to the inside of the house sometimes. This blend was made to deal with the situation.

Use it to create a perimeter in your yard and indoors and let bugs maintain their distance away from your property.

Feel free to spray it in your bathrooms, kitchens, basements, windows, doors, garages, patios, and decks.

In case you are worried about staining your surfaces, don’t be. Ortho Insect Killer is non-staining and odor-free. It also dries relatively fast.

Other Pet-safe, Non-Chemical Control and Treatment Methods 

Non-chemical treatments are not only healthy for your pets but also good for the environment.

Some of the organic, non-chemical tick control and treatment methods that we recommend include;

1. The use of Tick Control Tubes

For starters, mice are the primary hosts for ticks (not deer as most people believe).

Tick tubes work by enticing mice to steal the cotton—for nesting purposes.

Since the cotton is treated with permethrin, it binds with the oil in the mice’s fur, turning them into walking tick killers.

Whenever ticks climb onto the mice, the permethrin kills them, breaking their life cycle.

The process is safe for the mice and doesn’t leave chemical residue in your yard.

Currently, the best tick control tube that homeowners are purchasing is the above Thermacell Control Tubers that is designed by the Harvard University School of Public health.

It comes in 6 tubes, which is enough to protect about 1 Acre yard.

You only need to apply them twice a year—spring and summer—for effective tick eradication and prevention.

Related: Is Thermacell Safe For Dogs?

2. Use of Nematodes

These are microscopic worms that can feed on ticks, fleas, and other soil-dwelling insects by entering their bodies and injecting them with lethal bacteria. They are safe and don’t harm pets.

The infestation-controlling effects of these beneficial bacteria are believed to outlast other chemical and organic control methods because they also lay their offspring in the dead grub of ticks, eliminating them in all their lifecycle stages.  

If you want to control ticks in your yard using these worms, we recommend BioLogic Scanmask Nematodes.

It is designed to be applied with a sprayer or mixed with soil if you want to get rid of other insects in your yard as well.

3. Natural Sprays

These are made with peppermint oil and clove extract.

Clove has a natural chemical, Eugenol, which has great pesticidal properties that can instantly kill ticks, mosquitoes, and fleas.

One natural spray that we can recommend is the Extra Strength Tick Repellent Spray by Nantucket Spider.

It is formulated with a unique blend of essential oils such as clove, rosemary, and geranium and has been shown to repel over 90% of deer ticks.

Related: 6 Favorite Yard Sprays for Flies (Safe for Dogs)

4. Diatomaceous Earth

Another natural and effective way of getting rid of ticks in your yard is using diatomaceous earth.

This is a powder made from tiny, fossilized diatoms—microscopic sea creatures that often leave behind tiny, porous shells at the bottom of the sea.

It works by sticking all over the tick’s exoskeleton like sugar on a donut. As a result, the tick’s pores shrink, ultimately suffocating them.

While it is dangerous to these pesky critters, DE is completely safe for pets and children.

Sprinkle it in spots you’ve noticed ticks in your yard. You can also sprinkle it between your yard and grassy or wooded areas to create a barrier.

To boost its efficacy, re-sprinkle it every few weeks and after heavy rain.  

5. Use Insect Growth Regulators (IGRs)

These are substances that are formulated to disrupt the life cycles of insects.

Some prevent the insects from laying eggs, others inhibit the growth of exoskeletons in insects, while others prevent the pupa from growing into adults.

Most IGRs have low mammalian toxicity and are only designed to act on insects. They are, therefore, considered to be safe for pets and human beings.

Using IGRs is a very slow process as it takes months to get the population of ticks under control. So, if you decide to use it as a strategy for controlling ticks in n your yard, consider combining it with other strategies that I have highlighted herein.

6. Create a barrier

If your yard borders a known tick habitat like shrubbery, wooded area, or forest, you can also prevent ticks from infesting your yard by creating a physical blocker.

The best way to do this is to create a foot-wide barrier of gravel or wood chips between the tick-friendly area and your yard.  

7. Plant tick-deterrent plants

Plants like mint, rosemary, lavender, beautyberry, and marigold are known to have potent tick-repelling capabilities.

Consider planting them in your yard, around pet runs, patios, your landscaping borders, and anywhere in your home you would like to keep pests away from.

Best Areas to Target

It is rare to experience tick infestations over your entire yard.

So, if you have a big yard or lawn, it can be wasteful to spray the whole yard. Instead, target only problem areas where ticks are likely to inhabit including:

• Shaded areas: Ticks don’t like areas that experience high sun exposure.

• Areas with less foot traffic or movements.

• Areas with weeds, shrubs, and tall grasses

• Foundation plantings.

The Best Time to Spray Ticks on Your Yard

The best time to spray ticks is when the females are laying eggs or when the ticks are in their early nymphal stage. This makes May and early June the ideal time.

May is also ideal because the snow will have melted and the ground dried out.

Besides, adult deer ticks are considerably dominant during freezing temperatures.

They will always inhabit areas where they can find some warmth like shrubs or leaf litter that are close to the ground.

Spraying your yard in spring will, therefore, help you eliminate not only the eggs that are deposited on your yard but also the adult survivors.

Ticks are unlikely to be a big problem in mid-summer.

However, it is advisable to continue treatment in summer and fall to eradicate them at all stages of their lives and before their reproduction cycle starts.

Eliminating these critters before they deposit their eggs in your yard can go a long way in lowering their population next spring.  

Pro Tip:

After spraying your yard with any of the tick sprays I have listed here, ensure that your pets and children avoid the treated areas for at least 2 hours.

This will give the spray ample time to settle on the ground or foliage and reduce the likelihood that the spray will be inhaled or transferred from the ground/foliage to your pets.

How Often Should You Spray?

Every brand of spray varies considerably when it comes to how often it should be reapplied. While you may need to reapply some every two weeks others may last for more than a month.

To be certain of the reapplication frequency, read manufacturer’s instructions to learn more about the best practices for getting the most out of a specific tick spray, including how often it should be reapplied.    

Final Thoughts

When you come across ticks and fleas in your yard, the temptation to use chemical sprays can be quite overwhelming. This is because compared to natural blends, chemical sprays are more effective.

However, with the health of your dogs and kids at stake, you have no choice but to go for safer alternatives.

Don’t worry; if you follow the right guidelines, pet-safe tick sprays will effectively keep all the bugs away from your yard while maintaining the safety of every member of the family.