Ants can be quite destructive to all lawn types once their numbers begin to get out of control and in plague proportions.
Their damage can then transfer to paving and other areas around the home. While many attempts are often made to kill ants with little success, it can be achieved by utilising a few different methods.
Ant Control and Lawn Health
Ants prefer lawns that are in poor health, which is… Read more
Wild birds are natural and wonderful guests to have to visit our homes and gardens.
In fact, if we have birds regularly visiting our gardens, it’s fair to say we’ve done something right in their care.
While birds foraging on lawns is quite natural, they can become a pest when they develop a slightly unnatural fascination. With the result being that they dig into your lawn and make a real mess.
Black Lawn Beetle can be a problem for owners of all Australian grass types, including Buffalo grass lawns like Sapphire, Prestige & Palmetto.
A native of Africa, the Black Lawn Beetle goes through various life stages, each of which can cause at least some damage to our lawns. But with this possible damage also comes benefits.
In every case where the homeowner has… Read more
White Curl Grubs can be responsible for a lot of damage occurring to all lawn types as they feed on the roots of the grass.
The earliest damage will appear as patches of turf which seem to be dying off with an appearance of the drying out of the lawn’s leaf.
As the damage progresses and the area enlarges in size, the lawn will be able to be pulled up from the soil. This… Read more
Each summer, a troop of hungry caterpillars invade Australian lawns, advancing in plague numbers and leaving damage in their wake.
Aptly named army worms, these destructive pests pose a threat to all lawn types, feeding on healthy lawns at night.
In fact, army worms are so aggressive, they are said to be able to eat through an average lawn in two nights.
What Are Army Worms?
Army… Read more
Having a perfect lawn is a dream many homeowners strive for. While managing all the basics, including watering, mowing, and fertilising, is fairly straight forward, there’s one aspect of lawn care that’s less easy to control – lawn pests.
Lawn pests can be numerous and varied. For example, underground, your grass could become a meal for White Curl Grubs and Mole Crickets. Other lawn insects, including Armyworms and Two Spotted Mites, could attack the stalks of… Read more
Mole Crickets are a burrowing insect that is found across most of Australia but is especially common in Greater Sydney and the Central Coast of New South Wales.
Mole Crickets live in a deep, vertical burrow and can bunker down in it during winter.
Once winter temperatures begin to rise, Mole Crickets will work their way back up to the surface to feed on grass and roots.
Mole Crickets are almost… Read more
Sod Webworms are the destructive larvae of a native moth found across warmer areas of Australia, including Queensland and parts of the Northern Territory and New South Wales.
The grey to brown moths are harmless, but can be drawn to outdoor lights at night and will drop their eggs randomly on your lawn as they fly over it from January to April.
The larvae are up to 25mm long, can be a grey, brown or greenish… Read more
Mites are tiny creatures, in some cases visible only through a magnifying hand lens or microscope.
It’s usually the damage large numbers of Mites cause by piercing and sucking on leaves, stems, flowers and fruit that alerts us to their presence.
If you keep a close eye on what’s happening in your garden, you’ll be more likely to see this damage early and have a better chance of controlling an outbreak.
Left unchecked, Mites… Read more
Lawn Grubs are one of the most common garden pests in Australia, with over 2200 species native to Australia.
Spring and summer is the peak danger period when Lawn grubs, which are the larvae of several different species of moths or beetles, hatch and begin chewing and sucking their way through roots or leaves.
What are Lawn Grubs?
Lawn grubs are the larvae of moths and… Read more
Couch Mites are tiny pests that are visible only through a magnifying hand lens or microscope.
The translucent bodies of juvenile mites are just 0.1mm to 0.15mm long and the cream/white adults measure up to 0.2mm.
They hide in the leaf sheath of Couch grasses – a habit which gives them their name – and feed on new growth. Other common names are Bermudagrass Mite and Bermudagrass Stunt Mite.
The first sign… Read more
The occasional Grasshopper or Locust won’t cause much damage to your lawn, it’s only when they descend on your garden in large numbers that you need to think about taking action.
Interestingly, not all Grasshoppers are green and, despite the name, not all of them eat grass.
There are more than 700 species of Grasshoppers and Locusts – they’re closely related – in Australia. Fortunately, only a few are considered pests.
The four most… Read more
When there are multiple issues to deal with, it might seem like you’re spending every weekend spraying your lawn with a different product.
If you have a large area to cover, combining liquid products into a tank mix and applying them at the same time can help save time and energy, and make keeping your lawn in tip top shape that much more enjoyable.
The trick with tank mixes is first understanding whether the active ingredients… Read more
Insecticides are products containing ingredients that will kill, control, or repel pest insects.
They can be made from natural or synthetic agents and act on eggs, larvae, or adult insects that can damage your lawn or garden plants, flowers, and fruit.
As well as causing physical damage from feeding on grass blades or roots, some insect pests spread diseases that can affect the health and appearance of your lawn.
There’s a… Read more
There are numerous pest insects that attack lawns, causing physical damage from feeding on grass blades or roots, and spreading diseases that can affect the health and appearance of your lawn.
Among the most common are Lawn Grubs, which is the collective name given to the larvae of a number of insects.
They’re more likely to strike in spring and summer when your lawn is growing quickly and at its healthiest – making… Read more