Lawn and Turf Pests

Turf Insects

• Puffy white grubs are a widespread insect pest. They are beetle larvae that eat grass roots and can cause lawns to turn brown in large, irregular patches. Chinch bugs are tiny, with winged adults only about 1/6 inch long. The nymphs -- tiny, wingless, reddish bugs -- kill grass by sucking out vital juices. Cutworms and sod webworms are moth caterpillars up to 2 inches long that emerge at night to eat grass blades and stems. Chinch bug and caterpillar damage appears as small yellow or brown areas that gradually grow larger. Organic or chemical approaches may be taken to deal with such problems.

Stinging Insects

• In the southern half of the U.S., imported fire ants are a major lawn pest, building their mounds on lawns. These red-brown ants can deliver a painful sting, and swarm out in thousands to attack whatever disturbs their mounds. Yellow jackets occur throughout the United States. These black and yellow wasps nest in cavities in lawns and under trees and shrubs. A nest may contain more 500 stinging insects. When the nest is disturbed, yellow jackets fly out in a swarm to sting the human or animal that disturbed them. Imported fire ant and yellow jacket control involves careful use of appropriate pesticides or other localized measures. It's important to be able to distinguish between imported fire ants and other, beneficial, ant species when using control methods.

Animal Pests

• Burrowing animals can be major lawn headaches. Moles are earthworm and grub hunters that often tunnel just under the surface, raising the turf or leaving mounds of soil on the lawn. Voles also make networks of surface tunnels, but they're after the roots of plants and can do considerable lawn, garden and tree damage. They're also more prolific than moles, although moles often get blamed for the damage done by voles.

  Small holes in turf are burrow entrances for rodents, including gophers, chipmunks, ground squirrels, and shrews. Larger holes may house woodchucks, badgers, or armadillos in different parts of the country. Shallow divots dug in your turf may indicate skunks or raccoons have been searching for insect grubs and caterpillars or that armadillos have visited. Insects in lawns also attract birds in search of food.

Weeds & Diseases

• Lawn weeds fall into three general types. There are weed grasses such as crabgrass, goose grass, or foxtail grass. There are grass-like weeds such as wild onion, wild garlic and nutsedge. And there are broadleaf weeds such as dandelions, plaintains, dock, henbit, violets and ground ivy. Weed control involves physical removal and/or application of appropriate pre- and post-emergence herbicides. Turf grasses are host to more than 100 diseases caused by fungi, molds, bacteria or viruses. Common signs of disease are irregular blotches or rings of dead turf scattered across the lawn, and "moldy" looking areas in grass. Disease controls may include adjusting fertilizer mixes, adjusting soil pH, changing mowing practices, and applying fungicides.