Common Lawn Issues

Learn About Various Turf Pest & Diseases

Grubs

European chafer grubs feed  on grass roots from August to November and from March to early May. If not prevented, grubs normally aren’t noticed until damage is done. At that point an insecticide is needed to kill active grubs and reseeding will probably need to be done. The best course of action is preventative to eliminate any damage from grubs before it happens. 

With this application a preventative insecticide is applied to GUARANTEE no grub damage in your lawn. This application is applied in June-July before hatch time for the best control.

grubs
grubs

Chinch Bug

The hairy chinch bug is a pest that causes damage to bluegrasses, fine fescues, and bentgrass. Chinch Bugs damage turf by sucking nutrients from leaf, causing them to wilt and turn yellow.

Chinch bugs become active as early as March, laying eggs in May that develop into damagin population in July or August.

Necrotic Ring Spot

Necrotic Ring Spot (NRS) is the most common occurring patch disease on Kentucky Bluegrass turfs. The IPM program for managing NRS includes biological, cultural, and chemical controls.

Biological

The lawn should be watered daily for long-deep watering periods. 12-20 minutes per zone preferably applied between 12:00-4:00pm. Despite popular beliefs watering in the afternoon wont burn the turf and actually cools down soil temperature in the heat of the day.

Cultural

Successful management of NRS requires adequate levels of nitrogen. Our EnviroTurf Complete program is recommended to provide the required nutrients and it includes 2 soil conditioners. 

Chemical

Chemical control is the last effort. We do our best to control diseases and insect without the use of pesticides. However some cases absolutely need applications to stop the spread of the disease to other parts of the lawn.

Dollar Spot

Dollar Spot is one of the primary fungal diseases in Michigan. The disease is easily recognized by the appearance of small bleached out spots in turf, raging in size from a quarter to a silver dollar. Damage from Dollar Spot usually begins in the warm and moist weather of late spring or early summer. Once it begins, however, it can continue through summer. Management is achieved through the use of a good fungicide program in combination with cultural practices.

Cultural Management

As long as conditions are the same the fungal disease always has a chance to spread. The best thing to do is try to change these conditions. We can’t change the temperature but we can try to reduce humidity and prevent prolonged leaf moisture by watering in the afternoon. Multiple short waterings are best. 

ex. 3 separate 3-5 min waterings.

Fungicide Treatment

We do offer fungicide treatment for Dollar Spot. After the application the disease is inactive and will not spread for 21-30 days. However after that if conditons are right the disease has a chance of coming back. This is why a combination of chemical and cultural control is necessary.

Drought Stress

Turf root system sustains the plant with the moisture and nutrients it takes in from the soil. Grass roots are within the top few inches of the soil. This means that when it doesn’t rain for a few days the root zone dries out fast unless you water.

When the root zone dries out you will start noticing shriveled leaf blades and tip browning. At this point heavy watering is needed. Watering wont result in a green yard right away. Typically it takes at least a week or two of heavy watering to get a lawn to recover from drought stress.

It is also is important to note a well irrigated turf can normally resist most insect and disease issues. Most insect damage is caused on drought stressed lawns.

Protect your precious lawn. Water it!

Crab Grass

Crabgrass is one of the most common weeds in Michigan. It is an annual that comes up from seed in late spring. The best way to control crabgrass is prevention. Applying a fertilizer with pre-emergent before germination will be very effective at preventing crabgrass from showing up in your lawn. Germination typically occurs in May when soil temps warm up, so the proper timing for pre-emergent application is usually in April. If crabgrass shows up in your lawn it can be controlled by spraying it with post-emergence herbicide.

Let Our Experts Handle Your Lawn Issues

Lawn Fertilizing

Lawn Fertilizing & Weed Control

Liquid Aeration (Soil Conditioner)

Grub Preventative

Soil Test

Overseeding

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