It has been unusually hot this Summer, with very little rain. The majority of the insect damage I have seen on lawns is sod webworms. If you see little, tan moths when you are mowing flying out of the grass along with tan or brown spotting of grass, this would be webworm moth damage. Also just saw saw my first grub damage today. This is pretty early for them but given the warm Spring it makes sense. I have been hearing lots of different ideas of how to deal with the Japanese Beetles feeding on trees and ornamental plants. Some folks feel good about the pheromone traps because they see a bag full of dead beetles. If the trap catches about 1,000 beetles, about 50% of infestation, but attracts thousands more, you have done more harm than good. Your neighbors likely won’t appreciate that. Most plants are healthy enough and don’t require treatment, especially trees. If you are going to spray an insecticide, be sure to use one labeled for the insect you are after, being careful not spray flowering plants or trees to protect any foraging bees. If you have any questions about insect damage, please give us a call and we would be happy to help. Dollar spot disease disease has been popping up this year too. This disease can be problematic in that it can last for quite a while. Utilizing sound fertilizing and mowing practices as well as watering deeply and infrequently will help with this disease. We are finally expecting a substantial rainfall this week. For those of you manually watering, try watering the lawn for 20 minutes per sprinkler area a day before the rain comes. This helps loosen and ready the soil to take in all the rainfall rather than just running off down the sewer. There are also soil surfactants we can apply that can help reduce watering needs through the Summer and Fall, very helpful when seeding. Be sure when you do water, the lawn has a chance to dry out before nightfall. Always best to water early in the morning to minimize evaporation from wind and sun, and allow grass to dry during the day. Most all diseases thrive in humid conditions. The string of upper 70 degree overnight lows is prime conditions for disease development.
Again, if you have any questions, please contact us.