| Are annoying pests, insects, or rodents | | | | Control the adult beetles before they lay too |
| wreaking havoc on your lawn? If so, here's | | | | many eggs by treating them with Diazinon or |
| some advice that should help you find the | | | | carbaryl. To rid your lawn of deposited |
| best way to get rid of anything that is | | | | larvae, apply treatment at the beginning of |
| ruining the natural beauty of your lawn. | | | | summer so that adult billbugs are not given |
| | | | the chance to develop. |
| As soon as you notice critters or the | | | | |
| evidence they leave behind, you have to take | | | | Chinch Bugs. Adults are identified by their |
| action. Every creature, however, has to be | | | | black bodies, white wings, and red legs. They |
| handled differently. | | | | start off very small but can grow to 1/8-inch |
| | | | long as adults. Chinch bugs love dry and |
| Armyworms. Caterpillars that attack in large | | | | sunny areas for feeding. They feed throughout |
| clusters, these guys eat grass and leave | | | | their life and leave behind ugly, large |
| circular patches behind. The armyworm | | | | yellow or brown patches as they make their |
| measures about 1 1/2 inches long, and has | | | | way across your lawn. |
| green, tan, or black stripes on its back. | | | | |
| Look out for these insects from spring | | | | Like caterpillars, these insects don't do |
| through late summer. | | | | very well on lawns that have been properly |
| | | | fed. However, if you do have an infestation, |
| Luckily, this critter is easy to control | | | | you can get rid of these creatures in June |
| naturally through prevention. Keep your lawn | | | | and August with Diazinon or carbaryl. |
| well-maintained by feeding and watering it on | | | | |
| a regular basis. It's also a good idea to | | | | Cutworms. Part of the caterpillar family, |
| apply a slow-release ureaformadelhyde to keep | | | | these insects are gray or brown in color and |
| caterpillars controlled. In serious cases, | | | | can grow up to two inches long. Their main |
| you may have to use Diazinon to quickly | | | | feeding occurs at night - they hide under the |
| eradicate the problem. | | | | grass during the day, using it as protection. |
| | | | These bugs mainly cause lawn problems by |
| Billbugs. Black or reddish in color, these | | | | cutting the grass off at the soil line. |
| insects measure approximately 1/4 to 3/4 | | | | Problems tend to materialize during the |
| inches in length. They use their long snout | | | | spring until late in the summer. Look for |
| to chew holes in grass stems. In addition, | | | | small dead spots on your lawn. |
| they deposit eggs in the grass, which means | | | | |
| the problem has the potential to grow over | | | | If cutworms have only damaged a small area of |
| time. When the eggs hatch, the large larvae | | | | your lawn, simply control them by puddling |
| that escape begin to feed and puncture the | | | | water in the affected area to bring them to |
| stems and the crowns of the grass. This | | | | the surface. Once this is done, all you have |
| causes the grass to die in patches and breaks | | | | to do is collect the bugs and then kill them. |
| off individual grass blades at the soil line. | | | | For larger problems pesticide application may |
| | | | be necessary. |