Just ask any gardener you know - when their grass is green, thick, and healthy, their lawn is one of the best parts of the front and back yard, and is one of the best ways to achieve a cohesive and beautiful garden landscape.
However, as soon as that green grass begins to turn brown in color and weathers in appearance - what can be done to turn back the hands of time and restore the grass back to its emerald green vibrance? As it turns out, there’s plenty you can do, and first things first is to actually identify what is causing it.
The first thing you should do when trying to figure out what is causing your grass is by looking for the most common signs of lawn pests. As soon as you’re able to detect the lawn pests littering your grass, you’ll be in a much better position to treat your lawn and get it back to full health. So, when trying to discover if you have pests in your lawn, look out for the following signs:
Brown spots: Brown spotting across your lawn is a clear indication that pests are in your grass.
Bite marks and wilting blades: Another clear indicator of lawn pests. Look out for these, as this is a sign of grubs.
Dead and dying grass patches: This is one of the most obvious indicators of lawn pests.
Alongside these three most common signs of garden pests, you should also keep your eyes out for other signs including visible insects in your garden, as well as missing roots and even little holes present in the soil (which is a clear sign that pests are hiding underneath).
Here’s a quick breakdown of the most common lawn pests, and what signs to look out for when determining whether they’re killing your lawn:
Grubs:
Grubs are one of the most prevalent types of lawn pests, and are characterized by feasting on lawn grassroots, as well as grassroots just below the surface of the soil. The most common signs of grub damage are brown patches on the surface of your grass in random spots, as well as spongy soil that lifts away in clumps easily.
In addition to this, if you happen to see any crows or moles sniffing around on your lawn that you’ve never previously seen before, then this is another strong indication that there are grubs in your lawn!
Chinch bug:
Another common type of lawn pest is chinch bug, which are particularly known to love feasting on turfgrass. Unlike grubs, chinch bugs are sap-sucking types of insects that like to feed on several different types of common grass types, and are characterized by their unique feeding habits, which include sucking on grass blades while secreting an anticoagulant that prevents grass from being able to absorb water. This can then cause the grass to wither and die.
Besides that, other common symptoms of chinch bug damage are random patches of purple and brown grass, as well as wilting of individual grass blades.
Sod webworm:
Sod webworms are another type of common garden pest that can run havoc in your garden. Sod webworms are lawn-damaging pests that are known for eating grass blades and even the entire stems of plants growing near or in the lawn.
In addition to this, sod webworms are known as causing some of the worst lawn damage possible, as they are characterized by eating large amounts of roots, which leave a lot of holes present throughout the soil of the lawn.
Cutworm:
If you’re suspecting that you might have lawn pests making their way through your grass, then there’s a highly strong chance that it could be cutworm! There are several types of cutworms throughout the world, and they are difficult to catch because they most commonly like to feed during the nighttime.
In addition to this, cutworms also shelter themselves from the eye, as they like to hide deep within the soil, which makes them hard to find. If you think that cutworm might be an issue in your garden lawn, then keep an eye out for sheared-off grass blades, as well as the addition of dead spots.
How do I repair lawn damage?
Unfortunately, the majority of lawn pest damage tends to occur before it becomes visible, which often means that large amounts of damage are given time to happen before the homeowner or gardener notices it.
Luckily, though, there are a variety of different ways that you can quickly and effectively treat your lawn and help to bring it back to full health, while also preventing any new lawn pests from settling in and making your lawn their new home!
For stubborn grubs, we recommend trying out the BioAdvanced 24 Hour Grub Killer, which has been specifically designed to target grubs in particular. If you’re struggling with common insects such as cutworm or chinch bugs, then try out the Ortho Bug B Gon Insect Killer. For webworms, we recommend trying out the SUMMIT Webworm Control.
After you have treated your lawn and gotten rid of the pests, we then recommend taking the time to work on bringing your lawn back to health. If there are lots of areas of wilting, dead grass, then we recommend trimming your lawn to get rid of the wilting blades, and then following up by giving your lawn grass an intensive treatment.
The Super Nitrogen & Potash Lawn Food Quality Fertilizer is one of the best in the market and has been specifically designed for lawns in need of a little TLC. It is enriched with nitrogen and potassium and will be able to intensify the green color of your lawn, while also giving it all the nutrients and nourishment it needs.
