How To Treat Your Lawn For Chiggers

Chigger Control And Prevention

You can sprinkle DE around your lawn, drawing a barrier to prevent chiggers from getting into your actual lawn.

This will help you prevent chiggers in your yard and also help you control these pests.

Also sprinkle it on tall plants, moisturized areas, shaded areas, or dense vegetation. These are all prime places where chiggers live and the DE will repel them naturally.

Here youll find some more potent solution for repelling and killing chiggers.

Be sure you practice safe usage and read the label before using any of them.

Can Chigger Bites Make You Sick

Chigger bites dont carry or transmit diseases. This is because they feed on skin cells, not on blood.

Never scratch the chigger bites as they may lead to impetigo, a bacterial skin infection with crusts and pus around the bites. It can also increase the swelling, redness, and warmth, called cellulitis.

Make sure to keep fingernails short to prevent skin damage due to scratching. When this happens, you might need to take antibiotics for skin infection, as prescribed by your doctor.

Repel Insect Repellent Review Use While Working In The Yard

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The Repel insect repellant can be ordered in several different size variants and is basically formulated to create a solid barrier against chiggers, fleas, and ticks. It contains 98.11% DEET, which makes it highly effective to get rid of large chigger habitats.

When sprayed, the Repel repellants stays active for up to 10 hours, and is easy to use with its pump spray mechanism.

Other ways to get rid of chigger in your lawn include:

• Mowing your lawn regularly, and keep the grass short, especially around edges and woody areas.
• Removing accumulated leaf litter, and keeping landscape beds weeded.
• Maintaining your landscape plants with regular pruning to prevent overgrowth
• Getting rid of brush piles from your property
• Reduce or eliminate shady areas in your lawn

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Give Us A Call To Schedule Our Chigger Control Service

Nobody likes unwanted visitors, especially when those visitors bite! If you suspect that chiggers are overrunning your property, turn to the professionals at Free Spray Lawn Care. Our lawn care professionals will quickly and safely end the infestation so you and your loved ones can get back to enjoying your yard. We offer our chigger control service to property owners in Mansfield, Wooster, Strongsville, OH and throughout the surrounding areas. Give us a call at to schedule our chigger control service today.

Chop Down The Bush & Shrubs

Having greenery around the house looks nice, but if you dont want a repeat of what just happened with you a few days back, you might have to consider chopping down the bush and shrubs for good. Cut them down into smaller sections and make sure there is no outgrowth of the excess weeds around the areas because that causes chaos too. Also, while cleaning out the yard, you need to ensure that you are following the right methods, especially when it comes to wearing the right clothes and wearing insect repellent.

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How To Get Rid Of Chiggers Inside The House

If you missed some point of left behind a piece of clothing in the house or somehow ended up with chiggers inside the house, do not worry. Some hot soapy water can help you indoors. Clean and vacuum areas that are suspected regularly, and in no time, the house will be chigger-free.

On that note, we conclude the mini guide of how to get rid of chiggers in the yard. We all the tips and tricks suggested by us are helpful and not back-breaking for you. If you want to keep your house and entire premise chigger-free, keep it neat and clean. Keep repeating things like mowing, trimming, and so on. It will keep chiggers far off from your property.

I wish you a chigger- free yard!

Signs Of Chigger Infestation

The only real indication you’ll get that chiggers are a problem in your landscape is when people or pets develop maddening itchy biteswithout ever witnessing the insect itself. After the mite eggs hatch in the spring, the fast-moving six-legged larvae climb onto low-growing vegetation and wait for suitable hosts to come along: cats, dogs, rodents, reptiles, birds, and humans.

The larvae attach to the skin of their host, preferably soft skin, and inject their saliva into it. The digestive enzymes in the saliva liquefy the hosts skin cells, which causes the typical chigger rash and intense itching that starts three to six hours after the chiggers have attached to the skin. Most often, victims will experience bites around the ankles, and sometimes waistline areas if they have been working in tall brush. If they are not removed, chiggers remain on the human skin for about four days. When they are done feeding, the chiggers drop off. In their later stages as nymphs and adults, chiggers do not prey on hosts any longer.

While the bites themselves can leave itchy welts, they are not in themselves dangerous. However, intense scratching of the welts can open the skin to secondary infections.

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Lawn Treatment For Chiggers

It may be tempting to pick up some insecticide sprays and saturate your lawn, especially if you have a lot of overgrown vegetation but Fredericks says habitat alteration is the most important factor when it comes to getting rid of chiggers. But in some cases, pest control pros may recommend insecticides after a survey of the area deems it would be helpful. According to Texas A & M insecticides containing bifenthrin, carbaryl, diazinon or permethrin may be necessary. But steer away from granular varieties they say because theyre just not as effective as spray formulations.

How Long Does Chiggers Live In The House

They can live in the house for up to two months before they die. They will feed on blood during that time and can cause an infestation. If you are experiencing a chigger infestation, there are various steps you can take to get rid of them.

Chiggers will feed and then morph into nymphs. They will leave the house immediately after becoming nymphs to find another host. Nymphs are very small and difficult to see with the naked eye.

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Life Cycle Of A Chigger Bug

A chigger bug has a pretty complex life cycle. Without going into too much unnecessary detail, heres a basic overview of it.

The larvae is the common stage that we all know. This is when they latch onto a mammal and feed on the host. Theyre about 0.17mm in diameter and light red with many hairs. And they move pretty quickly.

The form into small groups on soil, vegetation, leaves, plants, and more wherever humans or animals may walk through and touch the object theyre waiting on.

Once a victim brushes by, theyll latch on and start to feed on their skin. This is only a small part of their entire life cycle.

Theyll use enzymes to digest the flesh and suck up the tissue through a hole or tube they create called the stylostome. The larvae will stay on the host for about 3-4 days, then drop off to the floor to morph.

After feeding on the host, the mite will morph into a nymph with multiple phases. At the very end of this stage, itll enter inactivity before turning into an adult.

The last step is the adult stage, where theyll feed on small arthropods, eggs, and plants.

Theyll live in soil or gardens where plenty of vegetation, shade, and water is available. At this part of the chigger life cycle, theyre fully mature.

Heres an interesting video about chiggers :

Deter Chigger Hitchhikers And Wild Animals

Chiggers might enter your yard through the help of other hosts that bring them in. They cling themselves to mammals or reptiles and get into your yard without your notice.

Small animals such as turtles, birds, and rodents often attract and introduce chiggers to lawns. Other host animals include snakes, tortoises, frogs, spiders, toads, and shrews. If these amphibians or reptiles are quite common in your home area, then you should make a great effort to keep them away from your lawn.

Host animals such as snakes and frogs can be kept away by eliminating the source of water or food thats attracting them to your yard. Also, minimizing clutter, trimming shrubbery now, and then, and covering your trash cans helps in deterring wild animals thus reducing the population of chiggers in your homes yard.

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How To Get Rid Of Chiggers In Your Backyard

Chiggers like more dense and humid vegetations, so if you have areas of overgrown shrubs or twig piles with weeds heres your motivation to put on some garden gloves and get to work. Homeowners should remove brush and thickets, and be sure to keep the lawn mowed, as these tactics will help reduce chigger populations, says Fredericks. When you keep your grass short and garden plants trimmed it raises soil temperatures and lowers the humiditya combination chiggers dont fancy. You might want to get rid of these shrubs, especially if they are overgrown.

Top 5 Best Chigger Repellents

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Chigger bites are some of the worst bug bites in the world, and not because theyre painful, because you dont even feel it when it happens!

The intense itching that follows can last for two or three weeks and drive you crazy, clawing at yourself to get rid of them.

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How To Kill Chiggers Indoors

Even though they are far more common outside, chiggers quickly make their way indoors by attaching themselves to us and our clothing. If there are chiggers inside, cleaning the house and carpet with hot water is your best line of defense.

Wipe down all the hard surfaces with a clean rag and soapy water. Use the heat setting on a carpet shampooer to disinfect the soft surfaces around your home. Remove all bedding and wash and dry them with high heat.

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Get Rid Of Chiggers Organic And Synthetic Pest Control

Are chiggers an issue for you this summer? If you walk back inside only to find itchy and irritating red bites on your legs and ankles, you probably have a chigger problem. The best defense for these pesky insects is a good offense. Chiggers enter our environment from wildlife including birds, mammals, and reptiles. They thrive in undisturbed environments like fields and brushy areas. Here are a couple of tips to preventing chiggers in your yard.

• Disturb their environment by keeping your lawn mowed, watered and fertilized on a regular basis.
• Try to control the wildlife in your yard. Take down bird feeders and remove any standing water.
• Find a good organic or synthetic pest control product to keep these insects at bay.

Organic Chigger Control

Applying sulfur to the yard is the most common all-natural method for chigger control. Sulfur is a repellant, not a killer. Because chiggers live in clusters, sulfur must be applied heavy. Powder sulfur is more effective than the granulated type but does not last as long and is a mess to apply. Powder sulfur can also be used as a chigger repellent for humans. Simply put powder sulfur in a sock and dust the sulfur everywhere you dont want to get bit. This same method applies to the lawn.

Synthetic Chigger Control

Find out more about chiggers here.

Stop by New Braunfels Feed & Supply today to treat your yard for chiggers and keep those pests at bay this summer. We are here to help.

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How To Prevent Chigger Bites From Happening

The good news is that there are a few simple steps you can take to prevent chigger bites from happening.

To avoid getting bitten by chiggers make sure to wear long pants and long sleeves and apply insect repellent to exposed skin when youre going to be in an area where chiggers are likely to be present.

Can Chigger Bites Spread

No, chigger bites dont spread. But they can get infected.

Chiggers will often find a specific area to feed on and youll find their bites show up as pink or red clusters of bites. Youll see a raised area in the center, and this is whats remaining of the skin that was eaten by the chigger when it ate through your flesh with its powerful jaws.

Clusters of these will be present around your waist, feet, and legs. You may think the bites are spreading, but this is actually just the pest moving around ever so slightly in a concentrated location as it looks for more areas to feed on.

Since chiggers are so small, they cant travel too far, and thus the bites are concentrated in a single area.

If you notice more and more bites, the bites arent spreading. Its the chigger thats moving around in that area.

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Do Chiggers Bite Dogs

Yup. just because its a dog doesnt make a difference.

Chiggers will happily feed on dogs, cats, or any other animal that comes into contact with them. If you think your dog or pet has been bitten by a chigger, you should see if your dog is scratching more often, or look for bite marks around the ears.

These are noticale areas that chiggers will bite in a dog or cat, and it makes it easy to see bite marks within the ear. If you notice chigger bites on your dog or cat, youll need to get some injectable or topical to get rid of them.

You may also be able to kill the chiggers by using a pyrethrin-based bath on a scheduled regimen. Just like fleas or mites, chiggers will latch onto the fur and can be difficult to remove.

Spraying An Insecticide For Getting Rid Of Chigger In The Yard

Insecticides are a powerful way to kill chiggers in your yard if nothing else is working. Look for a pesticide whose active ingredient is bifenthrin, carbaryl, cyhalothrin, diazinon, or permethrin.

Whichever insecticide you choose, follow the instructions carefully. If youre uncertain which product to use or how to apply it, contact your local cooperative extension office.

Sprays tend to be more effective than granules. You may need to make several applications. Only treat areas that youve confirmed contain chiggers.

Thoroughly wet the ground and any vegetation up to a height of three feet. Keep children and pets away from the treated areas until theyre completely dry.

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Foolproof Organic Way To Treat Lawn For Chiggers

This is probably common knowledge âround these parts, but I donât know it yet. Is there a foolproof organic way to treat my lawn for chiggers? I got about ten bites in all last year, so theyâre not a big problem, but I must be super-sensitive to them or something. The welt gets really big and red and angry and ITCHY and stays like that for a full week until it finally starts to subside, despite all treatments, including Chiggerrid . Nobody else in the family seems to get bitten at all, or if they do, theyâre not as sensitive.

All of us, including the puppy , play in the backyard everyday, so organic is important.

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Did You Get Rid Of Your Chigger Problem

Well, thats about it!

I hope this bug guide really did help you out and you benefited from it. If you have any other questions, please leave a comment below and Ill check it out.

Be as detailed you can be for a better and more accurate response.

Or if youve dealt with chiggers before, share your words of wisdom and help someone else in need!

Lastly, if this guide has helped you, let me know! Your comments are what keep me going to write these for the public! Share it with a friend =]!

Thanks for reading!

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