Lawn Diseases

Brown Patch – commonly starts as a small spot and can quickly spread outward in a circular or horseshoe pattern sometimes as large as two feet wide. Often times, while expanding outward, the inside of the circle will recover, leaving brown areas resembling a smoke ring. The best prevention for brown patch is to aerate often, reduce shade to affected areas and follow a low nitrogen fertilization schedule.

Dollar Spot – gets its name from small silver dollar size brown spots. Dollar spots tend to thrive during drought conditions with heavy dews in lawns with low levels of nitrogen. The best prevention for dollar spot is aerate often, water well in the mornings, remove excess thatch and follow a fertilization schedule to help increase the amount of nitrogen levels in your lawn.

Rust – gets its name from the orange “rusty” appearance it gives leaf blades. Rust tends to flourish in conditions of morning dew, shade, high soil compaction and low fertility. The best prevention for rust is to aerate your lawn, water well in the morning hours, reduce shade to grass, mow more frequently and bag grass clippings. Follow a fertilization schedule to help increase the amount of nitrogen levels in your lawn.

Fairy Rings – Fairy rings can grow in most grasses, and are distinguishable by circular rings filled with fast growing dark green grass. Around the perimeter of the ring, the grass will typically turn brown and after time grow mushrooms. Fairy rings typically grow in soils that contain wood debris and decaying tree stumps. The best prevention for fairy rings is to aerate the diseased area, water well in the morning, remove excess thatch, and fertilize more to increase the amount of nitrogen levels in your lawn.

Powdery Mildew – Grass looks as though it is sprinkled with flour. Shady areas are the most susceptible. Grass will wither and die. Water only in the morning, reduce shade by pruning trees, aerate and check drainage in the area.

Lawn Insects

Most insects are harmless to your lawn. Many are beneficial to the overall health of your soil and in turn the health of your lawn. However, some insects, if left untreated, can damage your lawn often in a short period of time. This is why each time your lawn is serviced we check for damaging insects. Corrective or preventative measures will be taken if necessary.

Several insects that are particularly damaging are:

SOD WEBWORMS – are small brown caterpillars which develop into dull gray moths. The moths fly over the grass in early evening dropping eggs. Watch for damage 10-14 days after observing the moths. Sod webworms feed only at night. Damaged grass blades appear notched on sides. Early August is typically when we see the heaviest damage, although damage may occur as early as June. A heavy infestation can destroy a lawn in only a few days.

ARMY WORMS – the larval form of moths feed on turf grasses. Early warning signs include low-flying mature moths. Army worms generally don’t over winter, but several generations occur each season. If conditions are right, they can reach high populations in lawns and cause severe damage. You can actually see ragged edges on the grass where the army worms have been feeding. In severe cases, these caterpillars can eat the grass to the ground, leaving large bare areas.

GRUBS – these turf destroying grubs are plump, c-shape insects. They are whitish with dark areas near the rear and a distinct brown head. The adults are beetles (Japanese, May or June beetles). Adult female beetles lay their eggs in the soil. The eggs hatch and the grubs spend most of their life as grubs beneath the soil feeding grass roots. Most grubs have rather long life cycles lasting several months to years. Grub feeding destroys the roots leaving the tops to wither and die. In heavy infestations, pruned off to the extent that turf can be rolled back like a carpet.

SPITTLEBUGS – adults are about 3/8 inch long, dark brown or black and have two orange stripes across the wings. Orange colored eggs are deposited in bits of hollow stems and other debris. Nymphs, ivory colored with a brown head, hatch in about two weeks and begin to feed immediately by sucking juices from the grass. They cover themselves with a frothy mass known as “spittle”. There may be one or several nymphs in each spittle mass. The masses are found from just below the soil surface to a few inches above it. A heavily infested area will feel squishy when you walk across it due to numerous spittle masses.

CHINCH BUGS – are most damaging to St. Augustine grass. But, you may see them on grasses such as zoysia, Bermuda and centipede. The chinch bug inserts its slender beak into the grass and sucks the plant juices. As the chinch bug sucks the plant juices, it releases a toxin that causes yellowish to brownish patches in turf. Typical injury appears as spreading patches of brown, dead grass. This pest is a sun loving insect and seldom attacks grass in dense shady areas.

BILLBUGS- Billbug damage usually appears in late-June through August, when summer drought stress is common. Light infestations in lawns often produce small dead spots that look like the turf disease, dollar spot. Sometimes the damage looks like irregular mottling or browning in the turf. Heavy infestations can result in complete destruction of the turf, usually by August. Billbug damaged turf turns a whitish-straw color and the stems are hollowed out orfull of packed sawdust-like material.

Insects on Shrubs

LACE BUGS – suck sap from the underside of leaves. Leaf stippling and bleaching of leaves usually appear in the summer and can be distinguished from mite feeding by the presence of cast skins and dark specs of excrement that lace bugs deposit on the lower leaf surface. They produce honey dew which drops to the foliage below and becomes blackened by sooty mold fungi.

APHIDS – are small, soft-bodied insects with long, slender mouth parts that they use to pierce stems, leaves and other tender plant parts and suck out the plant fluids. Aphids often feed in dense groups on leaves or stems. When the weather is warm, many species of aphids can develop from newborn to reproducing adult in 7 to 8 days. Because each adult aphid can produce up to 80 offspring in a matter of a week, aphid populations can increase very quickly.

WHITE FLIES – are tiny, sap sucking insects that are frequently abundant in vegetables and ornamental plants. They excrete sticky honey dew and cause yellowing or death of leaves. White flies usually occur in groups on the underside of leaves. White flies develop rapidly in warm weather and populations can build up quickly. Management of heavy white fly infestations is very difficult. The best strategy is to prevent problems from developing in your garden.

SPIDER MITES – are just visible to the human eye. They look like little red spiders. They also make a visible web that looks like debris on the underside of the leaf, not on top. Mites usually start becoming a problem in late spring and reach a peak by late summer. In summer, their life cycle is about 7 to 10 days that is hatching to laying eggs after a week or two.