Services and Pest Management For Your Florida Lawn
There are many common lawn pests that call Florida home. Each with their own preferences for the various grass types that are prevalent throughout the region. Each type of pest has specific recommendations for targeting and eliminating them, but there are also general guidelines that you can follow to help keep pests away from your lawn in the first place.
Read on to learn how to properly care for your lawn to keep it pest-free.
Pest Prevention Starts with Good Lawn Health
The best way to maintain a pest-free lawn is to prevent pests from ever taking hold to begin with. That requires your lawn to be as healthy as possible. Do your best to follow the recommended mowing, watering, fertilizing and other care guidelines for your specific grass variety to get the best results. When your lawn is stressed or weakened due to improper care or adverse weather conditions, like extended drought, it is more susceptible to attacks from pests. Because of this, it is in your best interest to give your lawn the best care you can.
Keep Your Lawn Free of Thatch
As you mow your lawn repeatedly over time, bits of cut grass, dead or dying grass, roots, and other lawn debris can gather and clump together in a carpet-like layer above the soil. When this coating, called thatch, becomes too thick, it can essentially choke off your lawn, blocking sunlight, moisture and air from reaching the grass and soil where your lawn can absorb them. A small amount of thatch can be somewhat beneficial to your lawn. Large amounts can provide safe haven for a variety of lawn pests, most notably turf caterpillars and chinch bugs. Clearing out thatch as it accumulates with a rake or vertical mower will make it less hospitable to pests.
Evaluate Your Lawn Regularly
Pest infestations are easier to deal with when they are small, before the bugs begin to take over. To give yourself the best chance of catching pest activity early on, monitor your lawn once a week, or once every two weeks in winter. Watch out for any signs of damage to your lawn so you can identify what is causing the problem. If you discover that it is likely due to pests, you can move on to treatment.
Integrated Pest Management
Pesticides are sometimes necessary when pests simply take over and a bigger solution is required. However, if they are applied incorrectly, they can cause harm to the environment. Duda sod highly recommends the hiring of licensed professionals to treat your lawn for pests
An industry standard of Integrated Pest Management (IPM), along with state and federal Best Management Practices, creates solutions that support your landscape as the pests are eliminated. An important aspect of this is that there are certain pests you don’t want to get rid of because they’re important to the overall ecosystem of your yard. A professional recognizes this and takes care of any pest issue properly.
Restore Your Lawn’s Health After Pest Treatment
If pests have left your lawn looking less than its best, fresh sod can bring it back to life. We provide a variety of sod for sale in Florida, including popular varieties like St. Augustine, Zoysia and Bahia. We’ll help you decide which type of grass is best for your home.