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Hort and Landscape Pro Tick Prevention

Posted in: News

Tags: ticks

In Massachusetts, horticulture and landscape professionals are at high risk for tick-borne illnesses due to their daily presence in tick habitats like wood lines, tall grass, and ground cover.

As an active member of the industry, you likely already incorporate safety routines, but with the recent emergence of Alpha-gal syndrome in the state—which triggers severe allergies to red meat and dairy—staying vigilant is more critical than ever.

Personal Protection for Crews

Permethrin-Treated Gear: Apply permethrin to clothing, boots, and socks. A University of Rhode Island study found that treated footwear makes individuals 73.6 times less likely to be bitten.
Strategic Dressing: Wear light-colored clothing to spot ticks easily and tuck pants into socks to prevent ticks from crawling up legs.
Daily Tick Checks: Require crews to inspect warm, hidden areas like the scalp, armpits, and behind ears immediately after shifts.
Post-Work Hygiene: Showering within two hours of coming indoors can wash off unattached ticks and provides a good opportunity for a thorough check.

Workplace & Client Site Management

Professionals can offer “tick-safe” landscaping services as part of their maintenance programs:

Habitat Modification: Keep lawns mowed to 2 inches or less and prune shrubs to increase sunlight, as ticks prefer moist, shady environments.
Physical Barriers: Create a 3-foot wide perimeter of wood chips, gravel, or mulch between the lawn and wooded edges to discourage tick migration.
Rodent Control: Deploy “Tick Tubes” (cotton soaked in permethrin) in mouse habitats. Mice use the cotton for bedding, which kills larval and nymphal ticks in their nests.
Vegetation Choice: Clear dense ground covers like pachysandra, which is known to harbor ticks.

Professional Resources in Massachusetts

UMass Extension: Offers educational webinars like TickTalk and specialized conferences for landscape professionals.
Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH): Provides free educational materials, including wallet-sized tick identification cards for crew training.
Tick Testing: While the UMass Laboratory of Medical Zoology is currently not accepting samples, you can find a list of alternative testing resources through the UMass Center for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment.

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