While a sod webworm infestation is likely to occur in the summer, there are a few preventive measures that are beneficial to use on your lawn during the spring, summer and fall. Aeration, thatch removal and fewer nitrogen fertilizer applications may prevent sod webworm larvae from damaging your lawn. A lawn aerator is a tool that pokes holes into the sod, increasing air circulation throughout the lawn. Removing grass thatch, all of the dead grass build up around the live grass base, also increases air circulation. Sod webworms thrive in a nitrogen-rich environment, so limiting nitrogen fertilizer applications to your lawn may still keep your lawn healthy while inhibiting the propagation of sod webworms.

These lawn pests can be controlled by worms or parasitic nematodes as a non-chemical solution. BT is a bacterium which, if applied early on in the infestation, can attack the larvae’s digestive system, making them unable to process the eaten grass. However, BT does not work on more mature larvae. Pesticides that contain organophosphates or pyrethroids will kill off the larvae if they are applied to the lawn at dusk when the pests go to the grass top to feed.

Sod Webworm Lawn Damage is from Grass Stitcher

You can try to prevent dollar spot by keeping to a morning watering schedule. Rake out the lawn thatch, that mat of old roots and cut grasses that get wound around the base of the grass blades. Discard the thatch away from the lawn in a recycling bin or compost pile. Try using a lawn aerator on the grass to keep the air circulating among the grass blades and to keep the lawn dry. Buy a soil test kit, and test your soil for nitrogen levels. Amend the soil with a nitrogen-based fertilizer if the soil test determines that the lawn needs it.

You may need to use a contact or penetrating fungicide on your lawn to remove the dollar spot infection. Watch your lawn closely, and reapply the fungicide several times until the dollar spot no longer reappears. Reseed the damaged lawn areas as needed.

Dollar Spot Problems is from Grass Stitcher

A few summer ground rules are in order to appropriately take care of your lawn and to keep it looking beautiful.

Save the cleats for the golf course or the soccer field. Cleats can give you traction on a slippery lawn, but they can also tear it up, removing grass and soil and leave holes in the lawn.

If games require that equipment be pounded into the ground, hammer the equipment in to the shortest depth possible. Try to use holes made by your lawn aerator whenever possible.

Change the position of lawn furniture, heavy objects and big toys left out all summer so that dead or lighter lawn patches do not occur. Aerate your lawn with an aerator on a regular basis to keep it healthy. It will get you into the habit of regularly moving objects around on the lawn.

There may be an ideal place for a baseball diamond or a volleyball net on your lawn, but change the configuration of the games whenever possible to prevent paths from being worn into the lawn and soil compaction.

Recognize that some lawn areas such as around slides or swing sets may get worn down. Plan to reseed these areas come fall when the lawn is used less.

Let the Summer Games Begin is from Grass Stitcher

But what we often do not think about when using the lawn as a project staging area is that the lawn suffers damage too if we spill things on it. Chemicals, gasoline and fertilizers can all burn and kill grass if they are spilled on a lawn. All of these substances get absorbed into the soil and can enter into the water table if enough of them are spilled on the lawn. Putting a drop cloth down will protect the grass as long as you do not leave it on the grass for several days at a time. A drop cloth can cause damage of its own, killing grass by preventing air circulation and the sun from reaching the grass.

A better solution that keeps your lawn safe is to pour chemicals, gasoline or fertilizer out of their containers while standing on a paved driveway or patio. The pavement is not as porous as soil and may be easier to clean if any of these substances get spilled on it. If you do spill chemicals, gasoline or fertilizer onto your lawn, try to quickly clean them up with absorbent material. Do not throw the contaminated material away indoors. Reseed the lawn, and do not use it as a staging area for pouring anything that can damage it.

If the soil absorbs the pollutants, you will have to dig up the contaminated soil and discard it. You will know that the soil is contaminated because the grass will turn yellow, bleach out and die in patches on your lawn. Once the contaminated soil is removed, you can do a soil test to see what amendments are needed prior to reseeding. Add the amendments and then reseed the damaged lawn patches.

Lawn Spills is from Grass Stitcher

Morning watering times and adequate lawn drainage will help prevent leaf spot on your grass. You can also try limiting the amount of nitrogen added to your lawn in the form of fertilizer. Rake out the thatch, the old roots and grass that collect at the base of the grass blades and aerate the lawn for maximum air circulation to keep the lawn dry. There are varieties of Kentucky bluegrass that are resistant to leaf spot, so you can seed your lawn with one of them to limit the chance of leaf spot taking hold in your lawn.

Once you determine that your lawn does have leaf spot, you can check your local gardening supply store for a fungicide with the ingredient strobilurin in it. Strobilurin will be listed either on the front or the back of the fungicide label.  This type of fungicide is quite effective in eradicating leaf spot when it is used properly.

Spotting Leaf Spot in Your Lawn is from Grass Stitcher

I’m sad to admit that I’ve neglected my lawn for a while now and I have all kinds of things going on. In the photo you can see that I have moss, grass, and weeds all growing harmoniously together and I don’t even know where to begin on getting my lawn in better overall shape. Help!
Stanley Griffin

Neglected lawn is from Grass Stitcher

Bentgrass will grow quickly in soils with a low pH or high fertility. A soil test is a important tool in preventing bentgrass from become established in your lawn. The soil tests will tell you how much lime you need to add to the soil to adjust its pH. It will also tell you how to adjust your fertilizer applications to prevent this problem grass from taking hold. You will generally need to use less fertilizer. The mowing height of your lawn should be kept high. Any thin or bare spots in the lawn should be reseeded as soon as possible to prevent the growth of bentgrass.

Unfortunately, there is no selective herbicide that will kill only bentgrass. Non-selective herbicides applied to a lawn will kill the bentgrass, bluegrass and ryegrass in the lawn, leaving you with an even greater problem of large areas with no grass at all. You can try applying herbicide to patches of bentgrass and then reseeding once the bentgrass has died. Be careful not to spray the grass you want to remain on the lawn. Non-selective herbicides will exfoliate shrubs, garden plants and flowers as well, so they must be carefully applied to the bentgrass only.

Bentgrass in Your Yard is from Grass Stitcher

But first, get rid of the white grubs. This is not as easy as it sounds because the grubs can live in your lawn anywhere from 10 months to 2 or 3 years. You can easily see them with their white, fat bodies and brown heads. Left unattended, these grubs will grow into beetles that will damage a lawn and continue to reproduce indefinitely. You can liberally sprinkle your lawn with nematodes that burrow down to the soil, an organic way to get rid of the white grubs. Nematodes are microscopic worms that will not harm the soil, but will kill off the grubs. You can also use Dylox, an insecticide sprayed directly on the ground to remove the grubs from your lawn. However, the ground, not just the grass, must be thoroughly soaked with the insecticide. Follow the manufacturer’s directions on the Dylox label, and remember not to walk through the lawn until the insecticide has dried completely.

White grubs in your lawn are preventable. You can use a chemical treatment called Merit early in the spring and again in the fall on your lawn before the June beetles and the Japanese beetle deposit their larvae. Again, as with Dylox, be sure to follow the manufacturer’s directions on the chemical’s label.

Harmful Grubs in Your Lawn is from Grass Stitcher

Thinning spots in your lawn can be prevented by redirecting foot traffic and monitoring and changing how often kids play in the same lawn area. You can also install fencing to keep out animals such as deer that can wear a path in your lawn on the way to feeding areas such as shrubs or gardens. Netting placed over tempting shrubs may also prevent deer from eating the shrubs in the first place, making your lawn a less tempting regular path. Remove any heavy objects that could prevent your lawn from getting enough sun and oxygen. If you put lawn furniture in your yard, make sure to rotate it into different positions on a regular basis so that the lawn beneath the furniture does not thin and die.

Lastly, a lawn aerator can ensure than your grass is getting enough oxygen if you use it on the lawn on a regular basis. This tool has tines that poke very small holes into the soil, introducing oxygen and creating spaces between the grass blades for better air circulation.

Compacted Soil and Aerators is from Grass Stitcher

Morning watering which leaves the ground dry by afternoon will help prevent red thread growth on your lawn. Aerating the lawn with a lawn aerator will increase air circulation among the grass blades, keeping them dry and less susceptible to red thread. Good lawn drainage and raking out lawn thatch will also keep the lawn dry. Planting strains of Rye grasses which are more resistant to this fungus may also keep red thread from destroying your lawn. A soil test will determine if the nitrogen and potassium levels available to your lawn are adequate. Inadequate levels of these nutrients can make your lawn more vulnerable to red thread. Lastly, maintaining a soil pH of 6.5 to 7 is key to keeping the red thread fungus out of your lawn.

If your lawn should become overrun by red thread, fungicides such as chlorothalonil or myclobutanil will rid your lawn of this problem. Read and follow all of the manufacturer’s instructions on the label carefully to obtain the best results for your lawn. Wait until all of the fungus has been eliminated from the grass. Then rake out the brown grass and reseed the areas where the grass has died back.

Red Thread Lawn Problems is from Grass Stitcher

We just bought a new home and this is the area between my driveway and our deck. I know you really can’t tell by the picture, but the land slopes downward from the driveway and it just doesn’t look good. At the close end, it drops down close to two feet and it’s around six inches up by the house. I thought about planning grass seed but I’d probably have to fill it in somehow first so the land is halfway level. What would you recommend in this situation?

Kevin Jenkins

Slope in lawn is from Grass Stitcher

Thanks-
Bruce Smith

Shaded lawn is from Grass Stitcher

Not only can yellow jackets dig holes and spoil your lawn, they can swarm and sting anyone who accidentally steps on them or mows over them. Multiple stings can be very painful and very serious for those who are allergic to their bee venom. There really are no preventive measures you can take to keep yellow jackets from invading your lawn. They are most easily managed by keeping an eye out for their holes as soon as lawn mowing season starts. Identify the yellow jacket holes with small colored flags. Place the flags near the holes so as not to disturb the yellow jackets enough to make them swarm at you.

Visit the yellow jacket holes in your lawn at dusk when these pests are less active. Bring a can of bee spray insecticide with you, and be sure to read the directions on the can before spraying the yellow jacket holes in the lawn. Stay as far away from the holes as you can while spraying them, and be alert for yellow jackets coming out of other holes in the lawn as you are spraying.

Yellow Jacket Lawn Holes is from Grass Stitcher

Good lawn maintenance prevents lawn powdery mildew. Check your mower’s blade position every time you cut the lawn. The blade should be set high to just trim the grass. A taller grass height may prevent the outbreak of powdery mildew. Decreasing the number of times you fertilize the lawn with nitrogen fertilizer may also prevent the problem. You may have to experiment with decreasing the number of nitrogen fertilizer applications until you arrive at what works for your lawn. Other preventive measures are to water the lawn in the mornings only and to increase air circulation through the lawn by way of using a lawn aerator.

You may need to use a fungicide if your lawn shows signs of having powdery mildew. One application of  either Mancozeb or Bayleton fungicides may control the disease, and you may have no further problems with your lawn for the remainder of the growing season. However, powdery mildew can be a stubborn disease, and it can take several applications of fungicide before the lawn disease abates. If the powdery mildew does not disappear after one fungicide application to the lawn, try up to three applications every four to six days to eradicate this disease.

Eradicating Powdery Mildew is from Grass Stitcher

Billbug larvae attack the grass stems first, then push through the soil to eat their way down to the grass roots.  If the infestation has progressed to the point where your lawn is showing bald patches, this means that the number of larvae is high enough to damage the grass, and chemical treatments may be needed. Insecticide applications which contain beta-cyfluthrin, bifenthrin, clothianidin, and/or lorsban can all help control the billbug population in your lawn.

There are several landscaping tools that come in handy when tending your lawn. A lawn aerator, a fertilizer applicator and thatch rake will all help to keep your lawn healthy. Billbugs can be prevented from invading your lawn by keeping the grass aerated with a lawn aerator. The thatch rake will remove any dead grass, roots and compacted soil from around the grass blade base, removing material in which billbug larvae eat and grow. A fertilizer applicator controls how much fertilizer is strewn over the lawn. Decreasing the number of nitrogen fertilizer applications may also control or eliminate the billbug population.

Billbugs and Your Balding Lawn is from Grass Stitcher

Be a good neighbor and take some steps to prevent dandelions from taking over the neighborhood lawns. Take time to aerate your lawn by going over it with a lawn aerator. This tool pokes small holes in the soil, introducing oxygen around the base of the grass stems. Spread a thin layer of compost over the grass during the spring before the dandelions get a head start. Fortify any thin areas by reseeding. Do a soil test to determine by how much you can decrease your lawn fertilizer applications. Repeat these actions in the fall when dandelions are still growing.

Keep a watchful eye on your lawn. Do not let any dandelions progress to the point where the fluffy yellow heads turn white and contain seeds. This white, fluffy head is ideal for lofting and spreading seeds on even the slightest breeze. The seeds are then carried on the wind and take root easily wherever they indiscriminately land. Some people will try to pick the white-headed dandelions once they go to seed. However, picking dandelions at this stage also further spreads the seeds and dandelion growth.

Controlling Dandelions in Your Lawn is from Grass Stitcher

Many homeowners often wonder if that fuzzy look to their lawn is grass gone to seed or weeds?

In the spring many species of grass produce seed. It’s a normal process and this is how grass plants propagate and spread.

The grass seed head is on the end of the grass blades above the leaves. If you mow your lawn often, you may never see them because you will cut them off before they emerge. Producing the seed heads takes energy for the grass as well so you might see less green in your lawn during this time period and perhaps a little thinning. Don’t worry though; this will only last a few weeks.

Many people actually think this fuzzy look in their lawn is weeds emerging but rest assured, they probably aren’t. The only exception, however, is when the seed heads are very low to the ground, light green in color, and have very white seeds. This is a weed called Annual Bluegrass.

If you have Annual Bluegrass then you will have to treat this weed a bit differently than most of the other common weeds in your yard, Broad leaf weeds are completely different.  To control this type of weed, you will need to apply a pre emergent weed control late in the summer. Unfortunately, this is also the best time to perform lawn seeding and you can’t do both at the same time. Click the following link to learn about more options to control Annual Bluegrass.

Is Your Grass Turning to Seed or Weeds? is from Grass Stitcher

However, too much fertilizer applied to your lawn too often can actually damage and kill your carefully tended lawn. You may end up with stripes of dead or discolored grass alternating with green stripes of lawn. This striping phenomenon or irregular pattern is known as excess fertilizer burn, an unfortunate consequence of being an overzealous lawn fertilizer.

You can prevent excess fertilizer burn by sticking to the recommended fertilizer amounts and application frequency supplied by the fertilizer manufacturer. You need to use appropriately calibrated lawn equipment, not just an old coffee can or plastic scoop, to apply the fertilizer to the lawn. Check the calibration of your equipment to make sure you are not overdosing your lawn with fertilizer. Spread the fertilizer onto the lawn at half the manufacturer’s recommended rate and in two directions to prevent excess fertilizer burn damage to your grass.

You have a couple of options if you have accidentally over-fertilized your lawn. You can try to wash away the excess fertilizer immediately with a garden hose. Watch the lawn carefully for signs of excess fertilizer burn. If the grass dies back in stripes, try reseeding the affected areas.

Lawn Fertilizer Overuse is from Grass Stitcher

A lack of water and low soil nitrogen content, as well as lingering dew in shaded areas of the lawn can all promote rust growth. The fungus first appears as small discolored spots on the grasses and quickly spreads into colorful pustules to change the grasses’ color to yellowish orange.

Regular and frequent mowing and morning watering of grasses prevent rust from establishing in otherwise healthy lawns. Lawn aeration and raking up lawn clippings from mowing are simple, non-chemical actions that may also deter this fungus in a lawn. They take more work than merely applying DMI and Qol; however, fungicides will not be completely effective if lawn care is neglected. A regimen of fungicide and proper lawn should take care of the problem.

You can also do a soil test to determine if your soil is deficient in any important nutrients. Adequate fertilizers applied on a regular basis to a lawn can not only prevent rust, they improve the soil so that grass has optimal growing conditions and stays healthy. Another way to prevent grass rust is to seed a lawn with Bermuda grass, St. Augustine grass or centipede grass which are hardy and less prone to rust damage.

Rust Invasion of Grasses is from Grass Stitcher

Japanese beetle larvae look like fat, white C-shaped grubs. The head tend to be brown, and the stomach has spines. These grubs can also damage a lawn on their own, eating the lower portion of grass blades and their roots. If left to grow, Japanese beetles develop a metallic green head with a coppery body that includes its wings. The abdomen has white hairs growing from it, and each sex has a distinctly shaped spine on one foreleg. Adult Japanese beetles will chew holes in grass blades and move onto damaging tree foliage.

Deterrents to skunk and raccoon lawn digging include applying grub killer to the lawn. An application of grub killer or insecticide during the latter half of the summer will kill the Japanese beetle larvae while they are still very small and have done little damage to the lawn. Nematodes added to the lawn may also kill off small larvae. The idea is to remove the grubs from the lawn so that the skunks and raccoons will not damage the lawn by excessive digging for food.

Once the Japanese beetle larvae are removed from the lawn, loose turf is then cleaned away and the lawn is reseeded during the spring for best results.

When Skunk and Raccoon Digging Damages Your Lawn is from Grass Stitcher

Why does my lawn have dead patches? is from Grass Stitcher

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Lawn Diagnosis Center is from Grass Stitcher

Cutworms are a type of moth whose larvae live in a lawn’s thatch and feed on the base of grass blades, causing your lawn to appear patchy. This happens most often when temperatures are 75 degrees F. or above during the summer. These larvae are about 1.5 to 2 inches long and can be brown, gray or black in color. Their fat bodies are a tempting meal for birds, and you may see large numbers of starlings on your lawn looking for these cutworms.

You can prevent cutworms from infesting your lawn by keeping lawn thatch under control. You can remove the thatch by raking it to the lawn’s surface and then disposing of it away from your lawn. A coring machine will also do the trick, removing cores of soil and thatch, increasing air circulation near the bottom of the grass blades. An aerator will not core your lawn, but it will also increase air circulation at the base of the lawn, keeping it healthy and free of pests.

If cutworms have already invaded your lawn, you can add parasitic nematodes to the lawn that will feed on the cutworms. BT bacterium will destroy young cutworms by attacking their digestive systems. However, you may need to apply pesticides to your lawn during dusk to get rid of older cutworm larvae. Making your lawn bird-friendly by removing obstacles and adding birdhouses to the area may also encourage birds to feed on the cutworms, keeping their population down.

Don’t Let Cutworms Cut Your Lawn For You is from Grass Stitcher

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Lawn Care Newsletter is from Grass Stitcher

Iron chlorosis is basically a deficiency of iron available to the grass. There may be sufficient iron in the soil; however, if the soil has a high pH or high levels of acid, this prevents the grass from being able to absorb and use the available iron. New grass blades may turn a light green to a light yellow. Older grass blades may be yellow around the veins, and the grass is stunted. You can add fertilizer with iron to your lawn, but that is a short-term fix. You may find that soil amendments that lower its acidity or pH will resolve the discolored grass blades problem. Using an aerator to increase air circulation throughout the soil and lawn may also help. You may also try discontinuing applications of phosphorous to your lawn if you use them to see if that resolves the problem.

Lawns also require a great deal of nitrogen to grow normally. A lack of nitrogen can result in discolored grass tips, lost density of blades and excess tillering, or the production of smaller shoots off from the main blade of grass. The lawn may appear to be yellow and thin with lighter-colored patches. You should fertilize your lawn on a regular basis with a nitrogen-based fertilizer. However, when trying to resolve discolored grass blades, you should first conduct a soil test to determine which nutrients the soil lacks and how severe the problem really is. Find a fertilizer that will address your soil deficiencies so that you can give your lawn the best chance to recover.

Another cause of discolored grass blades is surprisingly mechanical in nature. Your lawn mower could be contributing to the problem if its blades are dull. The grass tips will look torn, shredded and gray if the mower blades are not sharp. This problem is just as serious as soil nutrient deficiencies because it can leave your lawn vulnerable to hard-to-cure fungal infections. Check your mower blades several times during grass-cutting season to ensure that the blades are appropriately sharp.

Resolving Discolored Grass Blades in Your Lawn is from Grass Stitcher

Snowmold is not likely to completely kill a lawn, and there are several things that homeowners and landscape professionals can do to improve the appearance of the lawn in the spring. Removing dead, wet leaves lessens humidity, making it harder for snowmold to thrive. Raking up the matted grass will also promote air circulation and lessen humidity. Keep an eye on the snowmold patches for the next couple of weeks. New grass shoots may start to grow after minimal raking of the spots. A light nitrogen fertilizer may promote this new grass growth. However, if new growth does not appear within a couple of weeks, the snowmold patches can be reseeded with grass seed. Do not apply a fungicide to a lawn damaged by snowmold; a spring application of fungicide will not remedy the problem once the grass is damaged.

Prevent snowmold damage by leaving off fertilizers about six weeks before the lawn goes dormant for the winter. Over-application of nitrogen fertilizers in the fall may cause springtime snowmold spots on a lawn. Dead leaf removal in late fall will ensure that snowmold does not have a chance to thrive on a lawn. A lawn aerator that pushes holes into the turf will increase air circulation while proper drainage of the lawn may prevent springtime damage.

Snowmold on Your Lawn is from Grass Stitcher

What makes white grubs such a nuisance is that they can live in your lawn for a long time – from 10 months to up to 3 years. But you can control them.

The damage caused by white grubs is due to the larvae eating the grass. It’s OK if you have them in minimal amounts. Your lawn can survive 4 to 8 per square foot, but any more than that and the grass they destroy becomes noticeable. They feed on the roots so the dying grass becomes noticeable when it happens in patches, something that can happen if you exceed the limit of white grubs in your lawn.

So how do you get rid of them?

Use a chemical treatment such as Dylox and soak the ground, but be careful that you don’t over treat. Too much insecticide will have its own problems.

White grubs hatch their eggs usually in early spring. So you can start seeing signs of damage to your lawn in late spring or early summer. You can wait until then to treat your lawn, but if you know that some of your neighbors have had problems with white grubs then you should treat your lawn preemptively.

In early or mid-spring, soak your ground with Dylox or apply nematodes. You want to be liberal if you use the nematode approach.

Thankfully, white grubs can be treated easily. It’s nothing to be alarmed about. It’s a common problem.

How To Kill The Dreaded White Grub is from Grass Stitcher

Meet Dr. Blade.

Every season has its problems. Spring is a time of year when things start to bloom and this season has its associated difficulties with lawn management. Dr. Blade can help you solve your springtime problems.

But it’s not just the season. Other considerations can also have an effect on the types of lawn problems you’ll encounter.

For instance, weeds pose a different challenge than do insects. Do you know how to take care of a weed problem with your Bermuda grass lawn? Dr. Blade does.

What if you notice irregular patterns in your grass or circular patches? Or perhaps you’ve seen your grass blades turn a different color in the last couple of days. Dr. Blade can diagnose your problem based on the symptoms.

So if you have a problem with your lawn and you’re scratching your head trying to figure out what the solution is, visit Dr. Blade.

If you experience pain in your joints or muscles, feel a little under the weather, or your body is going through changes that have you concerned, you call a doctor. And if your grass is undergoing changes that have you perplexed, what’s the solution? Call a doctor. Call Dr. Blade. He knows lawn maintenance inside out. If he can’t solve your problem, no one can.

It’s Springtime: Get Your Lawn In Shape is from Grass Stitcher

• A fungus needs to be present, which is common since most soils are infected with one disease or another
• It needs a host, say Bluegrass or almost any other grass variety
• It requires a favorable environment with the right moisture, light, and nutrients

If the all the conditions are favorable, then the lawn disease can spread rapidly. Rarely does a lawn disease cause total devastation to a home lawn because most have multiple grass varieties. Golf courses have a more difficult situation, for example, because they are made up of only one grass variety.

The other consideration is that conditions can change quickly and the disease may cease progressing on its own. If it does not seem like the conditions are changing to quickly and you have a monoculture lawn, like a Bluegrass sod lawn, it may be time to apply a fungicide. Before you go out and buy it, you need to identify the lawn disease first so you can apply the correct one.

The down side of applying a fungicide is that it’s very expensive and it’s harmful to the lawn and soil life. In fact, repeated applications can even cause more outbreaks as the fungicide itself will cause harm to the very life in the soil that helps keep the fungus in check.

Instead, a better approach is to try and prevent the conditions that cause the outbreak of the disease, such as:

• Water early in the day, so the grass blades are able to dry off quickly
• Aerate the lawn in the fall to reduce thatch and create a strong grass root system
• Add compost to your lawn in the fall
• Mow your lawn high as a scalped lawn is more susceptible to fungi
• Obtain a soil test and keep you soil PH neutral 6.0 – 7.0
• Use a variety of grasses
• Keep your lawn mower blades sharp and practice grass cycling

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Lawn Disease Control is from Grass Stitcher

Preventive insecticides

The most common insect that is controlled with this type of insecticide is the larvae of the Japanese beetle, which is a subsurface insect commonly referred to as a grub or the European chafer grub. These chemicals (imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, halofenozide or chlorantraniloprole) need to be applied in June or July before the grubs hatch out in late July to early August. They will do no good if applied any other time, as they only work on newly hatched grubs.

These insects can also be treated curatively with chemicals such as carbaryl (Sevin) or trichlorfon  (Dylox). It is difficult to know if the grubs are present because they feed underground on the roots of the grass plant. That is why many opt for the preventive route.

Curative insecticides

There are signs to look for, however, when grubs are active in your lawn. If you see animals digging or birds pecking at the lawn, it is a good indication of their presence. Likewise, when walking on the lawn, if it seems soft and you pull the grass and it easily lifts like a rug, there is a good chance you have grubs present. Just pull up the grass and dig in the soil, if you have more than 10 grubs per square foot then it’s time to apply a curative insecticide.

Lawn insects such as chinch bugs and sod webworms are surface insects, which mean they live on the surface of the soil and suck the moisture out of the grass blades. These insects are commonly treated on a curative basis after they have been noticed. Some common lawn insect control products to treat surface insects are lambda-cyhalothrin, gamma-cyhalothrin, bifenthrin, deltamethrin, cyfluthrin or permethrin.

There are products that combine preventive insecticides for both surface insects and subsurface insects but it is very important that they are applied at the correct time before the insects begin to hatch. In most areas, this occurs around early June.

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Lawn Insect Control is from Grass Stitcher