Maintaining a lawn is not just about your surroundings being attractive. It is also about relaxation and rejuvenation after a tiring day. When lawn owners look at their gardens in the morning, they feel pride, solitude, peace, and harmony. Every time neighbors compliment their work, they don't shy away and say, "Yours is better." They keep their head up high because it takes so much effort and sweat to keep a lawn beautiful. But lawn owners do not keep their gardens wonderful for their visitors and their neighbors. The garden or lawn is always meant to please the homeowners themselves.
Imagine watching the early rays of the sun touch every green leaf in your garden. Watch as the colors radiate from a dark color to diverse and beautiful colors. When you take your first sip of tea or coffee, your first instinct is to feel the mild and cold dew of the early morning mist. You hear the rustling of leaves in your surroundings, putting you into a good mood. If you have a fully maintained lawn, you bask in the goodness of mother earth. It is as if you have your own paradise or haven.
Identification Of Lawn Pests
There are factors that destroy the beauty of our lawns. This includes the weather, soil conditions, and most importantly, pests. These creatures are responsible for most of the damage to your plants and your soil. If the lawn is infested, it makes it difficult to cultivate a radiant and blooming environment. This is the reason why you need to learn how to care for your lawn to prevent any lawn pest infestation. But first, let us discuss some of the most common lawn pests you need to watch out for.
There are two classifications of lawn pests: The Root Feeding Grubs and the Surface-Dwelling Grubs. The Root Feeding Grubs include the white curl grub, the lawn beetle larvae, and the scarab beetle larvae. These creatures feed on the roots of your lawn, making it unhealthy and undernourished.
Surface-dwelling grubs, also known as "Lawn Grubs" feed on the leaves of your plants. A famous example of this is the caterpillar. Other examples include the webworm, armyworm, and cutworm. These pests tend to eat the best leaves and leave out the rest. If you start to see brown or straw-like patches on your lawn, or if you observe the disappearance of the leaves of your plants, it might be time to take immediate action.
Common Lawn Pests
1. Black African Lawn Beetle. This pest is known to feed on the roots of lawns. Although they move from one place to another, they could leave lawns irretrievable from damage. Like most lawn pests, the activities of the Black African Lawn Beetle are seasonal. They go dormant when winter comes. They come back during spring and summer.
2. Cut Worms, Sod Web Worm, and Army Worms cut off the grass near the soil, causing serious damage.
3. The Wire Worm and False Wire Worm is the larval stage of the click beetle that causes extreme damage to underground roots and stems. These creatures eat the embryos of plants which prevents germination.
4. Mole Crickets target Buffalo Grasses. They dig tunnels through the soil, eating the roots of the lawn.
5. Japanese beetle. These creatures are one of the most common and most destructive lawn pests of all time. They infest the leaves of plants, making it unhealthy, and leaving it to die.
Control Pests In Your Lawn
If you want to eliminate, if not prevent the problem, here are some tips to consider in maintaining and caring for your lawn.
1. Remove all the Nasty Weeds. Pests are attracted to it. To eliminate pest problems, remove one of their most common food sources.
2. Remember to trim your grass regularly and keep it short. Tall grasses harbor different pests.
3. Mulching: Pests love mulches because it gives warmth, moist, and sanctuary. However, if you plan to maintain it, make sure to keep it as far away from your home as possible. An ideal distance of 18 inches or more is prescribed to keep them away from infesting the interior of your home.
4. Maintain clean gutters: Just like mulches, gutters are one of the common hiding spots of lawn pests. As much as possible, point the downspouts away from your home. Make sure that all the pipes and drainages are pointing away from the main structure.
5. Remove, if not clean standing water. Moist is a sure attractant to most insects such as cockroaches and mosquitoes. If you want to prevent any more from infesting the lawn and your house proper, make sure to dehydrate your enemies by covering or getting rid any source of standing water.
6. If you do not want to use pesticides or insecticides for treatment, poison the lowest end of the food chain such as the slugs and the small, common worms. When the food source is eliminated, the other pests will look for another place where they can secure food to survive.
The Landscape That Shoos The Pests Away
Smart landscaping is a good way to solve your pest problems. Apart from the fact that it can give you so much fun, it helps prevent any more pest infestation on your surroundings. Here are some landscaping tips to apply:
1. Remember to keep your lawn trimmed and pruned.
2. Consider the amount of moisture and airflow. Lawn pests love moist. It is best to landscape your lawn in such a way that it is not conducive and attractive to pests.
3. Mulch Wisely: Mulches are nesting areas for pests. So, make sure to keep it shallow and it should not reach more than a few inches deep.
4. Plant wisely: Before you plant, research as much as you can about it. Do not just consider the beauty of the plant or how it can make your landscape magnificent. There are plants that attract certain kinds of pests such as aphids and beetles. Make sure to steer clear from anything that can grant you lawn trouble.
5. Conduct a thorough checkup. If you are in the middle of landscaping, make sure to look for any holes and damages that could serve as entryways to pests. If you find one, fix it immediately. Apply necessary treatments and pesticides to make sure nothing finds a loophole to your lawn.
6. Add coffee plants to your landscape. This plant is known to be a natural pest repellent. If not, you can use coffee grounds which are also known to add nitrogen to the soil, increasing its acidity that repels various insects. Pests such as the slug hate coffee and the acid it produces. Imagine having natural pesticides as a part of your landscape.
7. Clean up your fruit trees. You should not only focus on your grasses. Focus on your trees as well, make sure they are not harboring any kind of pests. If they do, perform the necessary treatments possible to ward off any pests. In addition to that, remember to remove rotten fruits from their stalks or stems. These attract several pests such as ants and flies that can eventually create a nuisance inside the house. Use it to create a compost to make your soil healthier. However, avoid over-fertilizing. This can attract clover mites, millipedes, and other pests in your lawn.
8. Lights can make your lawn attractive at night. However, it is also attractive to certain pests. Having bright lights around your lawn can serve as a beacon to pests in your neighborhood. Indeed, it illuminates your backyard and gives it a certain glow. But think about what the pests can do to your lawn and your plants while you sleep at night.
9. Install a sprinkler to your landscape or garden. Most pests hate to be sprinkled with water. How much more if the water is infused with essential oils? You can add a generous amount of citronella oil, lavender oil, and neem oil to your water source to create an unstoppable and natural pest-repellant.
Call For Help From A Professional
Not all of us has the skill, time, and resources to do things all by ourselves in landscaping and maintaining a pest-free lawn. This is why it is important to seek help from the local pest exterminator near Troutman, NC. Who said that you cannot have a pest-free environment at a tight budget and a tight schedule?
Lake Norman Home Services makes sure that you get the high-quality service you deserve at a very affordable price. For over 50 years, this company has proven their methods safe and effective to treat all forms of pest infestation. Their experts pride themselves in concocting botanical-friendly means of lawn pest control. So, even if you have pets and children who love to play on the lawn, there is nothing to worry about. All you need to do is sit back, relax, and watch as the skillful exterminators get to work.