Reduce Ticks in the Mountain West - Plant Natives

Corkey DeSimone

Jun 4

5 min read

Updated: Jun 4

As more Utah, Colorado, and Mountain West homeowners plant native landscapes we see an unexpected benefit emerging: native plants may help support ecological conditions that naturally reduce tick populations.

While no plant can completely repel ticks, researchers increasingly recognize that native plant communities contribute to healthier ecosystems that are less likely to experience pest imbalances. Native landscapes support biodiversity, encourage beneficial wildlife, and create the kinds of natural relationships that help regulate many insect and parasite populations, including ticks.

Recently, Utah wildlife biologists have documented significant impacts from winter ticks on moose populations in the Wasatch Mountains. Utah moose are dying from tick infestations, and the state looks to reverse trend. Researchers have linked warmer winters to improved tick survival and larger tick populations. Deer, elk, rodents, and moose tend to graze or live near streams, lakes and rivers. Recently,

The Good News

The Mountain West's arid climate acts as a natural brake on tick expansion. Ticks need humidity to survive. While warmer temperatures help ticks, hot and dry conditions can kill them through desiccation. Much of Utah remains too dry for large populations of some disease-carrying ticks that thrive in the Northeast and Midwest.

That's why tick activity in the Mountain West is typically concentrated in:

Riparian corridors
Stream and river bottoms
Woodland edges
Moist mountain habitats
Areas with abundant deer, elk, rodents, or moose

Why Native Plants Matter - Preparing for the Future

For Utah, Colorado, and Mountain West homeowners, native plants offer a rare opportunity to conserve water, support pollinators, restore habitat, and reduce tick populations, all at the same time.

For thousands of years, native plants evolved alongside local wildlife, insects, birds, and soils. These plant communities formed balanced ecosystems where no single species dominated.

Modern landscapes often replace those diverse ecosystems with large expanses of turf grass and non-native ornamental plants. While attractive, these simplified landscapes support fewer beneficial insects, fewer birds, poor soil, and less ecological diversity.

Scientists are seeing many tick species expand northward and to higher elevations across North America as temperatures warm and winters become milder. This generally allows ticks to survive in places that were previously too cold.

Research from universities and extension programs across the country suggests that greater biodiversity often leads to healthier and more resilient ecosystems. Native plant communities support a broader range of species and help strengthen the natural food web that regulates pests and parasites.

According to researchers at Utah State University, native vegetation plays a critical role in supporting wildlife diversity and ecosystem health throughout Utah's varied landscapes. These diverse ecosystems are generally more stable and resilient than simplified landscapes dominated by a small number of plant species.

Native Plants Support Beneficial Wildlife - Don't Use Pesticides

One of the greatest strengths of native plants is their ability to support wildlife. Wildlife that can be very sensitive to insecticides. Let nature do it's work.

Native landscapes attract:

Songbirds
Raptors
Native bees
Butterflies
Ground beetles
Spiders
Lizards
Beneficial insects

Many of these species play important roles within the food web. Ground-dwelling birds, reptiles, spiders, and predatory insects help regulate populations of insects and other invertebrates. Raptors and other predators help control rodent populations, which are important hosts for ticks during portions of their life cycle.

A native landscape doesn't simply add plants, it helps rebuild an entire ecosystem.

Native Plants Create Biodiversity - Nature's Insurance Policy

Ecologists often describe biodiversity as nature's insurance policy.

The greater the diversity of plants, insects, birds, and wildlife in a landscape, the more balanced the ecosystem tends to become.

Research examining tick-borne diseases has found that landscapes with greater ecological diversity often experience lower disease risk because wildlife interactions become more complex and no single host species dominates the system.

Native plants are among the most effective tools available for increasing biodiversity because they provide food, shelter, nesting sites, pollen, nectar, and habitat that local wildlife evolved to use.

A single native plant species may support dozens or even hundreds of native insects that cannot survive on non-native ornamental plants.

Native Plants Support Pollinators and Beneficial Insects

Many people think only of bees when they hear the word pollinator, but native plant landscapes support an entire community of beneficial insects.

These include:

Native bees
Hoverflies
Predatory wasps
Lacewings
Lady beetles
Ground beetles

Many beneficial insects are predators of other insects and help maintain ecological balance throughout the landscape.

The result is a healthier garden that relies less on chemical inputs and more on natural ecological relationships.

Utah Native Plants for a Tick-Smart Landscape

While no native plant should be marketed as a tick repellent, many Utah natives help create diverse, resilient landscapes that support healthy ecosystems.

Common Yarrow

Yarrow is one of Utah's most valuable native wildflowers. Its aromatic foliage attracts beneficial insects while its long bloom period supports pollinators throughout the growing season.

Showy Penstemon

Penstemons are among the most important pollinator plants in the Intermountain West. Their flowers attract native bees, hummingbirds, and numerous beneficial insects.

Rubber Rabbitbrush

Often called the "last great pollinator plant of summer," rabbitbrush provides critical nectar resources when many other flowers have finished blooming.

Big Sagebrush

Utah's signature shrub supports birds, insects, and wildlife across the Great Basin. Entire ecosystems depend on sagebrush communities.

Blanketflower

This colorful native attracts pollinators while adding season-long beauty to gardens and meadows.

Blue Flax

Blue flax provides nectar for pollinators and creates a natural meadow aesthetic throughout the Mountain West.

Milkweeds

Showy Milkweed and Narrowleaf Milkweed

These native species support monarch butterflies and a remarkable diversity of beneficial insects.

Native Plant Communities Are More Powerful Than Individual Plants

One of the most important lessons from ecological research is that individual plants matter less than plant communities.

A single native plant placed in a conventional landscape provides some benefit.
A diverse native plant community creates exponentially greater ecological value.
When native grasses, wildflowers, shrubs, and trees are planted together, they support a wide range of wildlife and beneficial insects that help create a healthier, more balanced ecosystem.

This is why restoration ecologists focus on rebuilding plant communities rather than simply adding individual species.

A Landscape That Works With Nature

For decades, many landscapes were designed to control nature. Today, a growing number of homeowners are choosing to work with nature instead.

Native plants offer a practical, beautiful, and science-based way to create landscapes that support biodiversity, strengthen ecological resilience, conserve water, and encourage healthier interactions between plants, wildlife, and people.

While native plants alone won't eliminate ticks, they are an important part of creating landscapes that function more like nature intended, diverse, balanced, and resilient.

And in Utah, where water conservation, pollinator protection, and ecosystem restoration are increasingly important, native plants provide benefits that extend far beyond the garden.

Sources

Utah State University Extension – Native plant ecology and Utah ecosystems.
Utah Native Plant Society – Native plant biodiversity and habitat restoration.
Xerces Society – Native plants and beneficial insect research.
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center – Native plant ecosystem services and biodiversity.
University of Maine Tick Lab – Biodiversity and tick ecology research.
Cornell Integrated Pest Management Program – Landscape ecology and tick management research.