The pests that cause problems are normally visible to the human eye -
although often, they are under the surface of the lawn, so we have to
look for and recognise the symptoms. The most common of garden pests -
visible aphids - are not a problem for lawns. So other than ants - we
normally have to get below the surface!
Insect pests are normally easy to recognise and deal with before
there is too much damage. Diseases tend to infect a large area of turf,
and are thereafter more difficult to deal with. Insect problems start in
more localised patches, and the damage is normally to the grass roots -
rather than the plant as a whole.
Obviously, root damage affects the whole plant, but dealing with the
insect pests soon as identified, normally means that the grass will soon
re-grow or recover. Small regular shaped
brown patches in your lawn are normally the
result of an insect pest. You can soon identify at the link re brown
patches.
Lawn care is important as a preventative method - simply because a
good dense sward of turf is better equipped to shrug off a few hungry
grubs!
Lawn Disease problems on the other
hand, tend to linger and spread unseen for quite some time before damage
is apparent.
- Leatherjackets - The main insect pest is probably the larvae of the Crane fly (Daddy
Longlegs) - the Leatherjacket which lives just below the lawn
surface - feeding on the grass roots. Left unchecked, a serious
infestation of this pest can result in large areas of brown patches.
- Chafer Grubs - are the larvae of the Chafer beetle and are not as much of a problem as the leatherjackets. However, for the pristine lawn owner, they are a
pest. At the same time, they make a good feed for birds such as starlings and blackbirds.
- Ants Damage Lawns and the main Spoilers of lawn picnics and generally troublesome little
creatures. Ants damage the lawn if present in large numbers.
Together with this they have a rather nasty sting if you are
unfortunate enough to sit on or near their nest. They are not the
easiest of pests to deal with.
- Moles - Moles are a huge problem in lawns if you are unfortunate to have them! There are ways
to prevent them, and preventing moles in the first place is MUCH
better than sorting out the problems you will have once they are
present.
- Mining bees
- The good news about Mining Bees is that they don't sting. The bad
news if you want to be rather pessimistic, is that they tunnel into
the lawn to build their nest and leave a small mound of earth on the
lawn. I find them very fascinating to study! They probably do more
good in the garden overall, than bad!
- Earthworms in Lawns - I have to
bite my lip when I hear of Earthworms being described as lawn pests.
But, enough of you email me to complain about worm casts and the
like, so I have to accept that I am very much a minority as far as
Earthworms in Lawns are concerned!
- Dogs and Lawns
- I will include these - which are a problem rather than pest within
our definition of the term 'pest'!
Related | Brown Patches Identified