Get Almanac's Daily Updates Extended Forecasts Where to Buy Contact Us

How to Get Rid of Chiggers (and Keep Your Garden Bite-Free!)

Chiggers (Mites)
Photo Credit
Jay Ondreicka

A Gardener’s Guide to Getting Rid of Chiggers

Written By: Catherine Boeckmann Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

If you’ve ever finished a day in the garden only to wake up itching like mad, you may have crossed paths with one of the tiniest but most irritating pests around: the chigger. Here’s everything you need to know about what chiggers are, where they live, how to avoid bites, and how to get rid of them—especially in gardens.

These nearly invisible mites thrive in grassy, shady areas—exactly the kind of inviting space a garden provides. While they don’t burrow into your skin or suck your blood, their bites can leave you with intense itching and red welts for days.

What Is a Chigger?

Chiggers are the larval stage of a type of mite (family Trombiculidae), closely related to ticks and spiders. They’re often called red bugs, harvest mites, or berry bugs. As larvae, they are reddish-orange and nearly microscopic, less than 1/150 of an inch long.

Chiggers have a four-stage life cycle: egg, larva, nymph, and adult. It’s only during the larva stage after chiggers hatch from eggs (larvae) that the young mites feed on the skin of their human animal host. Then they fall off and grow into its nymph stage (which resembles the adult).

Adult Trombidiidae mite close-up.
Chigger (Trombidiidae mite) close-up. Credit: Alan R. Walker

Where Do Chiggers Live?

Chiggers, most active when it’s hot, thrive in warm, humid environments, such as:

  • Overgrown lawns and gardens
  • Dense shrubbery
  • Leaf litter and mulch
  • Tall grasses and weedy areas
  • Shaded spots near ponds, creeks, or forest edges

They’re most active from spring to early fall when soil temperatures are above 60°F, peaking between 77° and 86°F (25° and 30°C). In the U.S., they’re common in the Midwest and Southeast but can be found nearly anywhere with the right conditions, including your garden.

Note: Chiggers do not live long indoors and don’t infest homes the way fleas or bed bugs do.

Read Next

Identification

Why Are Chiggers Considered Pests?

Because of their larval feeding behavior, chiggers latch onto humans and animals to feed on skin cells. They don’t burrow or suck blood, but instead inject a digestive enzyme into the skin. This creates a tiny hole (a stylostome) through which they suck up liquefied tissue.

Chiggers tend to bite in areas where clothing fits tightly (waistbands, socks, underwear) or where skin is thin and moist (behind knees, underarms, groin).

What Do Chigger Bites Look Like?

Chigger bites appear as:

  • Red, itchy welts or bumps
  • Often in clusters or lines
  • Intensely itchy within hours
  • Itchiness can last several days or more

The bump is caused by the body’s reaction to the digestive enzyme—not the mite itself, which usually drops off after feeding.

Man's foot showing red chigger bites.
Chigger bites can be painful. Credit: W-W

Gardening Products

Control and Prevention

How to Treat Chigger Bites

First, wash thoroughly in a bath or shower using soap and a washcloth to remove any mites still on the skin.

  • Apply anti-itch creams like calamine lotion, hydrocortisone, or antihistamine creams to reduce inflammation and discomfort.
  • Cold compresses can soothe itching.
  • Avoid scratching to prevent infection.
  • Wash clothing and towels in hot water to kill any lingering mites.

Learn more about treating chigger bites. If symptoms persist or worsen, consult a healthcare provider.

How to Avoid Chigger Bites

  • Keep your garden trimmed: Regularly mow grass, prune overgrown shrubs, and remove leaf litter or weedy patches.
  • Avoid sitting or kneeling directly on the ground in high-risk areas—use garden mats or kneelers.
  • Use insect repellents:
    • Natural options: essential oils like citronella, tea tree, eucalyptus, lemongrass, or geranium.
    • Stronger protection: repellents with DEET or permethrin applied to clothing and exposed skin.
  • Dress protectively: Wear long sleeves, pants, tall socks, and closed shoes. Tuck pants into socks when working in tall grass or brush.
  • Shower promptly after gardening or yard work to remove mites before they bite.
  • Keep pets out of chigger-prone areas, or check and clean them after they’ve been outside.

How to Get Rid of Chiggers in the Garden or Yard

  1. Mow regularly to reduce the shade and moisture chiggers love.
  2. Clear out leaf litter, weeds, and tall grass around garden edges and fence lines.
  3. Trim back bushes and overhanging branches to increase sunlight and reduce humidity.
  4. Treat with natural options like diatomaceous earth in infested areas.
  5. Apply insecticides if absolutely critical. Products with bifenthrin, cyfluthrin, or permethrin can help, but always follow label instructions and avoid harming beneficial insects.
  6. Encourage natural predators: Birds and predatory insects like spiders and ground beetles can help control mite populations.

Bonus Tip: If you have frequent chigger issues, consider creating a gravel, wood chip, or dry mulch barrier between wild areas and your garden beds to reduce chigger migration.

Garden Pests
About The Author
Catherine Boeckmann

Catherine Boeckmann

Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Catherine Boeckmann is the Executive Digital Editor of Almanac.com, the website companion of The Old Farmer's Almanac. She covers gardening, plants, pest control, soil composition, seasonal and moon c...
Read More from Catherine Boeckmann

More Like This

Comments

<span>Dw</span> Tue, 08/05/2025 - 11:43
I spend a lot of time outside and on pastures seemingly hunting red bugs. In my experience, the most common place I find them is on rocks, stone, and masonry structures. Particularly by water. I don't think gravel will do much to control them. I don't like deet but certain times of the year I'll use it. A good scrub in the shower after coming in is a necessity. Bifenthrin and permethrin work well to control specific areas.
<span>Wanda</span> Tue, 07/22/2025 - 09:32
This theory has been debunked many times, but in the 60's we heard about putting nail polish on the bites to "smother" them. It may not work for all, but I have used this many times over the years with reasonable success. The bites still last long, but the itching is much less. I just put some on this morning.....
<span>Jb Williamson</span> Fri, 06/06/2025 - 09:56
No matter what I use to relieve the itch, calamine, OTC bite remedies, antihistamines, etc. I get very minimal relief if any. Just for grins & desperation I tried a liquid we use for other problems. It's Helichrysum essential oil, the tiniest drop will give my wife & I nearly instant relief. I have better results than her tho'.
<span>Tim Menees</span> Wed, 05/28/2025 - 10:12
My go-to remedy for chigger bites has proven quick and effective. Using a shower wand direct the hottest water you can stand on the bite for 10 or 15 seconds, then switch to cold water then back to hot again. In my experience this gives instant and usually permanent relief.
<span>Tom</span> Wed, 05/28/2025 - 09:06
My first thought seeing the Chigger image was a thought this looks like a Tick, same body structure and size. Both are located in same environment and both bite. Was wondering if the Chigger caries the Lyme Disease or various bacteria as does the Tick. The markings are obviously different. Being red in color, makes it difficult for a "color blind" person to see wherein the red-green deficiency is very common in males. Difficult for me to see wild strawberries, unless I turn over the leaves. Thanks for the article, heard about Chiggers, but didn't know much about them.