Do you have a cat or a dog? Have you been finding ticks in and around your home? Although a flea and tick collar can help protect your furry friend from being a food source for these pests, such a collar won't necessarily prevent your property from being an attractive place for ticks to live. They may be carried in by unprotected stray dogs and cats or even by local wildlife. Whatever the reason for the presence of the ticks, getting rid of them isn't always easy. Fortunately, there are steps you can take that can help make the process easier. Some things that you should do include:

Property cleanup: Your yard doesn't necessarily have to be messy in order to attract ticks, but cleaning it up anyway can certainly help. For better tick control, you should make sure that your grass is kept trimmed and that your trees and bushes are neatly pruned and manicured as much as possible. Fleas and ticks both like to hide in thick vegetation to wait for an unsuspecting animal to come by. Ticks especially like to climb grass and bushes for a better opportunity at snagging a host. If you haven't got the time or energy to enact this sort of tick control, you can hire a professional company to take care of the most serious issues for you.

Spraying: Although cleaning up the vegetation around your property is an effective method of tick control and should take care of most of the problem, you may still want to use pesticides to help eliminate the rest. However, simply buying sprays at the store and then using them in your home may not be the best idea. If you read the instructions on the products, many of them are intended only for very limited use and can be extremely toxic. A better solution is going to be to hire a professional exterminator. He or she will know which chemicals are safe for long-term use, helping to keep your family safe.

New plants: It may seem strange to add more plants as a method of tick control when you've just finished removing or trimming the ones that you already have. But there are many plants that may deter and repel ticks when planted around your property. Lavender and sage are beautiful plants that may, along with several others, help you to get rid of the final ticks that may be holding out against all of the other changes that you've been making to your property.