Western NY helps. Thanks.

What kind of grass do you have and how tall do you mow?

Do you normally use organic fertilizer on the lawn or synthetic fertilizer?

Have you ever seen mud dauber wasps under the eaves or in your shed or garage? They build nests out of mud in dark places. They also eat spiders. Mud daubers are very docile and even social with humans as long as you don't start swinging things at them like your arms. My office used to be in the garage so I got to interact with them several times a day since we used the same doorway. I would suggest, as long as nobody is allergic to wasp stings, that you learn to live with wasps. That means you and your family do not go around removing nests and no swatting at them. If you encounter one and it is not already attacking you, then come to a complete stop and observe the wasp. It will fly away in 5 (long) seconds. The only reason these docile wasps attack is if you move a nest or if you swat at them. I've even moved nests while they were on it and not had them seem to notice. But they had gotten to know me by then. On another occasion I had an angry wasp smash into my forehead and land on my glasses. It stayed there for no more than 2 seconds while a second angry wasp hovered menacingly about 1 foot in front of my face. When the one on my glasses flew off it joined the other wasp hovering menacingly. After another 3 seconds of a stare-down, they flew back to the nest. Then I realized why they were angry. Their nest had become so heavy with eggs and adults working the nest that the nest was now sagging down to where my screen door just barely missed the nest when I went out the door. What I had done was open the door and scrape these two wasps off of the nest. All this is to say that you can do yourself a big favor if you already have mud dauber wasps, to keep them happy and let them take care of your spider problem for you.

If you do not have a history of using organic fertilizer, I would suggest you get into a habit of at least one annual dose of something like alfalfa pellets. Yards with a healthy population of soil microbes usually do not get infestations of anything, because the microbes and other insects are happy. Infestations like yours come when there is an imbalance. The imbalance can be caused by insecticide, herbicide, or fungicide. It can also be caused by years upon years of chemical fertilizers with no organic fertilizer.

Lastly, if you do not already have a bird house, bird feeder, or bird bath in your yard, then set those up. Birds will come to your yard and take care of your spiders for you. As soon as you use any insecticides, though, the birds likely will not pay attention to the spiders.

Synthetic fertilizer, move fairly short and I am the one that spends the most time out back and is allergic to wasp stings.
I do have multiple bird feeders.

I'd get a picture, ID the spiders, then read about them. Surely you're not the only person with this problem, and once you know the insect's name, Google will likely give you some information about how to be rid of them. That's what I'd do.

--JC

When you find out what they are, you might want to find out if they eat ticks. I'd take spiders over ticks any day.

Spiders are not evil, by the way. They're usually seen as beneficial because of all the insects they eat. Ticks aren't insects though (like spiders, they're arachnids), so spiders might not eat them.

Your local Cornell extension office might be able to assist you in getting an ID.

Wow! You shot all my potential suggestions right down with that reply. Hmmmmm????

Well the organic fertilizer will help. That will help with the soil biology to normalize the population of everything. Predators will increase because the health of the prey is improved. You would also want to see more toads, geckos, and lizards to help with the spiders.

I have tarantulas and scorpions at my house. Scorpions are the nasty buggers. The tarantulas are harmless but scary looking. I saw this one as I was stepping out to walk my dog.

{{gwi:86779}}

It is amazing how fast those things move out in the wild.

I will try the organic fertilizer. It certainly can't hurt.
Sadly, as much as I'd love to see any lizards in my garden, living ten miles north of Buffalo and five miles east of Canada, the only lizard in my garden is the panted metal one on my shed.
I used to live in South Florida and loved those little guys. Don't miss the Palmetto bugs, though.
Thanks for the advice.