While many people think that watering your lawn is the only thing necessary to maintaining a lawn, the truth is that watering your lawn is the bare minimum to keeping your lawn beautiful. Lawn maintenance requires keeping your lawn healthy by watering and fertilizing it while also handling common lawn problems.
Dead patches in your lawn can be caused by a variety of problems. In this article, we’ll recognize five common problems that can lead to damage or decay in your lawn. To learn more about these problems and the remedies, keep reading.
1. Lawn caterpillars
Lawn caterpillars gnaw away in the grass in the evenings. During the daytime, you will find them hiding in between grassroots as they only come out at night to feed on the blades of grass. These caterpillars can be very destructive to your lawn. They eat young shoots and roots of the lawn, eventually resulting in dead patches.
Remedy
You can check for the caterpillars by laying a damp towel on a part of your lawn he entire night. In the morning, you should find a few caterpillars beneath the sheet. However, insecticide turns out to be the only option for getting rid of the insects. If you choose the right insecticide, it shouldn’t be harmful to other animals or your lawn.
2. White grubs
These beetles lay their eggs on the soil, and the resulting grubs hatch while feeding on the underground plant parts. A large population of grubs can destroy your lawn roots quickly, which leaves the tops withering and dying. In a lawn that is infested severely, they eat roots in such a way that you would roll the turf back like a carpet.
If you are suspecting to have the white grabs infestation, check out dead irregular sports. They cause more severe damage in autumn. When you pull up the dead turf, it reveals a c-shaped larva. You can find ten worms in each square foot, but they can vary in species.
Remedy
Regular watering and proper fertilization of the lawn will help in preventing the infestation. But when the outbreak is already there, you can apply imidacloprid in early summer and late spring. If you keep your lawn healthy, it can tolerate higher densities.
3. Nutsedge
These are weeds that grow commonly in waterlogged soil. They thrive where your sprinklers leak, or where you have frequent irrigation and poor drainage. If these weeds are present, you will see grass clumps that appear on lawn edges or bald spots. The weeds produce numerous seed heads that allow easy grass dispersion. This plant becomes rampant quickly in any lawn or garden.
Remedy
Mowing regularly can help control the weed as it reduces the food source; the tuber dies eventually. You can also remove the weeds manually to curb the spreading. Try to use sharp blades to cut faster and cleaner to reduce disease infestation. Dull blades may stress the grass, which makes it susceptible to disease. For better results, balance and sharpen the knife three times during the growing season.
4. Winter grass
Winter grass is an ugly weed that outgrows and takes over a beautiful lawn. Small grass clumps appear on the lawn edges or bald spots. They also produce large amounts of seed heads that enable easy dispersion.
Remedy
You remove the grass manually at the initial sign. Remember to discard the grass before transferring them to stop the spread throughout your garden.
5. Circular dead spots
These dead spots are caused by cat or dog urine, and it could be from your pets or neighbor’s pets. The circular patches seem like dead spots that are surrounded by green grass.
Remedy
To keep the lawn healthy, you need to keep off dogs and cats away from your garden. The dead spots recover slowly and especially if you use a soak hose. You can also train pets to use spots away from your lawn, like a surfaced area or sand bed that is easily cleaned.
You should keep your lawn fertilized, watered, and also maintain it correctly. With that, the garden will provide you a complete year enjoyment. Also, don’t forget to aerate the soil to keep your lawn’s roots strong and healthy. With proper maintenance and prevention of pests and weeds, your lawn should look incredible.