Lawn and Garden Pest Control Tips

Lawn and garden pest control can be a real challenge. Let's look at two of the most common lawn pests - chinch bugs and white grubs and what you can do about them.

A good way to tell if you have chinch bugs is if your lawn has patches of brown and dying grass. This will be particularly prevalent in areas that get lots of sun. You'll often find these patches will grow until the chinch bugs find a part of your lawn that is unfavorable like a shaded area.

Lawn and garden pest control involves conducting a test of the area. The best way to test for a chinch bug infestation is to use an empty coffee tin with a cut out bottom. The idea here is to push the can about 2" into the soil at a spot where the healthy grass meets the not so healthy grass. Now fill the can with soapy water and leave it sit for 10 to 15 minutes.

If you end up with just a couple of chinch bugs floating to the surface then things aren't too bad. If on the other hand, you have upwards of 10 chinch bugs doing the back float then you've got a real pest control issue.

It's best to conduct this test in 3 or 4 patchy areas so you know exactly how bad your chinch bug problem really is.

A few chinch bugs here and there can be terminated with a homemade insecticidal soap. Once you have forced the bugs to the surface you can then vacuum them up with a shopvac.

To eliminate this kind of lawn and garden pest control problem in the future use resistant grass varieties containing endophytes which make grass unpalatable to chewing insects.

Now on to white grubs. Since grubs feed on roots, your lawn will have large irregular patches. You may also notice that your lawn feels spongy. Another sign of a lawn and garden pest control issue is small random holes. You see, skunks and raccoons like to dig for grubs to eat.

For a white grub test you'll need to cut a square patch of grass and peel it back like a loose carpet (this should be very easy if you have a high number of grubs present). If you have less than five grubs per square food things are okay. If on the other hand, you have close to ten, things are only bound to get worse.

If this is the case, Nematodes are your best lawn and garden pest control solution. Nematodes are microscopic worms which feed on the grubs (which are essentially the larvae of soil dwelling pests like June bugs). They work by entering the body of the grubs and releasing bacteria which multiples and will soon kill them. Nematodes are safe for plants and animals and can be applied to both lawns and gardens. Nematodes are most effective when applied to moist soil in the evening or on an overcast day.

When it comes to grub prevention there's very little you can do to prevent soil dwelling pests from laying eggs in your lawn. That said a healthy lawn which is thick and has a deep root system can cope much better with a limited amount of grubs present.