Fleas live on animals. They do not establish "colonies" without some sort of animal to eat from. To answer your question, we did have one place in our garden which had a huge amount of fleas at one point. It was where a deer liked to bed down - she had made sort of a wallow there in the dirt. My DH just got some extra duty flea spray, and sprayed that area (after chasing the deer out of the garden every time he saw her). He had to repeat that a few times, but it worked.

Jackie

I have no solution but can't wait to hear some responses. I'm seeing fleas as well. I have two cats and it seems like fleas are becoming immune to some topical flea meds like Advantage and Frontline. Lisa

I havent seen any animals in my yard for some time now.. but who knows what happens at night time. Thanks for your help Jackie and Virginia. I will have to look into both solutions.

We HAVE had fleas in the yard -- Not recently.

One of our dogs is violently allergic to fleas, so she is on an oral dose of COMFORTIS -- which is Spinosad -- a biological.

So, rather than spray your yard with a generalized pesticide, you might consider spraying a couple of times, at intervals, with Spinosad.

Thank you Jeri... I don't have any animals.. but I did have some skunks visit a month or so ago.. but I haven't seen them back since.. but who knows whats coming into my yard at night..

Sorry to hear you are having a flea problem. Your going to need to spray your yard with something that kills fleas and then again two weeks later to kill any eggs that hatch that were laid. The skunks could have brought them to your yard as well as squirels. Also raccoons, rabbits and rodents carry fleas and they are nocturnal so you wouldn't see them during the day. And just another thought, if you have any sand or dirt brought into your yard that could be a source for fleas.

AH HA!!!!!! turns out I still have/had a skunk problem that explains the fleas in my yard...I sprayed this morning and noticed this...

EXHIBIT A (neighbors dog got a hold of it last night... I heard the commotion but it was too dark to see what was going on)

Yes! We had this issue with our new house because of the wildlife. You can lay down diatomaceous earth to kill the fleas. It's ground up fossilized plants so not harmful to humans. I don't know what it will do to the other bugs you might want in the rose bed, though. I do think it's worth it to get rid of the fleas having experienced them myself...

Since not a fan of chemicals, was going to suggest diatomaceous earth as well. You want the food grade not the kind sold for pool use. You will have to reapply if it rains. You can try an animal feed store or ebay or Amazon if you decide to try it. It's also good to sprinkle in food. Do a google to learn about it.

We have cats and use it for flea control.

Get a hose end sprayer and fill it half full of dish or other liquid detergent and half hydrogen peroxide (or water if you don't have peroxide). Spray the whole yard, really soaking it. It won't hurt the plants or grass, in fact, it'll actually help them. The soap works on all insects, clogging their ability to intake nourishment, so they die. Apply it once a week and after a rain during flea season. You're basically doing the same thing you do when you use soap spray on your plants for aphids. Bugs are bugs.

The main thing is to get it under control outside before you have a problem inside with fleas. Fleas will jump on clothes such as socks and make their way into your house. Once inside they are terrible and the only way to get rid of is to use the flea bombs.

Thanks all for your help... Boncrow66.. I have been undressing at the back door and throwing the clothes in the washer and running to the shower.. hehehe.

My vet reports that fleas are becoming resistant to the ingredient in Frontline. (I don't know if Advantage is the same). We have switched to something else, a chewable prescription medication the dogs take quarterly. We just changed. The dogs were being bitten pretty badly, and we could not figure out why. We thought it was sandflies (midges) which we sometimes see, since we knew that it could not possibly be fleas!

Do you know what Diatoms are? Silica skeletal elements of a kind of algae. The plant material rotted long ago. The skeletal elements are composed of complexes of hollow tubes and the tubes are sharp where they break apart.

I can't conceive of putting diatoms on food.

I use food grade DE around the house perimeter and also in our nest boxes and around the chicken coops etc. I also dust the chickens in it from time to time. It kills the mites and lice thay chickens can get from wild birds etc. Chickens peck at the dirt so food grade is safer..after all we eat their yummy eggs so I want them to be healthy.

I don't know if it's true or not, but I have read articles that estimate 85% of Americans are infected with one type of parasite or another. They say that many cases go unnoticed and symptomless. Or, people are unaware that fatigue or tummy upsets can be related to parasites. It is often only when infestation is extreme, that it is symptomatic and detected. Ingeorgia is correct. The most recomended natural remedy is food grade diatomaceous earth.

I know 85% sounds like a crazy high number to me but it sure makes me wonder what's going on inside my own body. Maybe someone else here has more info. Lisa

Haku good thinking on your part to undress before you go inside. I speak from experience that a flea infestation is not fun. We had a load of dirt put in our yard many years ago and the dirt had fleas and before we realized it the fleas were in our house and on the cat. We had to treat the house, the yard and the cat and then repeated the process two weeks later to kill any eggs that might have hatched. It's something you don't forget or want to repeat lol. I hope you have had success in eliminating them from your yard.

Boncrow.. I remember as a teen going with a group of friends to someones house who had pets and they had terrible fleas inside the house like you could see them jumping lol horrible experience... I didnt go inside.. I will give the yard another spray tomorrow..

Interesting facts Lisa

I'm trying to decide whether to give my new dog Comfortis. I gave it to my old dog who died of cancer in October. The stuff has got to be toxic because it makes the dog toxic to fleas for almost a month. The good thing is that fleas in your house or yard will jump on the dog but be killed when they bite. I am just wary of chemicals for dogs. I don't know what is meant by a "biologic". Does that mean non-toxic?

I have been talking with a person who has bred dogs most of her life and she recommends putting garlic in their food. If fleas dislike garlic, maybe adding some garlic to a yard spray would be beneficial. I don't know. Am thinking I'll get one Comfortis treatment, and after that give garlic in dog food a try.

Also my vet said to put garlic on a dog toothbrush to get them to let you brush their teeth. Dogs supposedly like garlic.

Garlic may deter the fleas but does it kill them? I give my dog Bravecto for ticks and fleas and it works great.