Don’t let your South Florida lawn become a breeding ground for pests

Your south Florida lawn is an important asset that greatly enhances the enjoyment and appeal of your home. Unfortunately, it can also be an insect breeding ground.

Some of the pests that move in and multiply are harmful to the lawn and to other plants on your premises. They may also invade your living spaces and create a nuisance. Fortunately, there are a number of things you can do to keep the lawn free of these intruders or rid your property of them if they’re already established.

Early detection is the best preventive strategy. Check your lawn every two weeks or so for insect activity. Give special attention to areas that appear damaged, such as brown spots or zones of thin growth.

Know what to look for. Chinch bugs, grass scales and spittle bugs suck nutrients from the grass. Mole crickets and grubs live in the soil and destroy your lawn’s roots. Fleas and chiggers use your lawn as a starting point to infest your home and your pets.

Minimize practices that encourage insect breeding in the grass. Over-fertilization nourishes sap-feeding insects that thrive on fast-growing vegetation. Utilize minimum amounts of slow-release nitrogen fertilizers to help reduce the nutrient load that draws these insects, while still providing sufficient fertilization for your lawn.

Call the professionals at Haggerty. Long-term presence of destructive insects in your lawn requires a multi-tiered approach. Since a number of beneficial insects help control destructive ones, appropriate insecticides must be carefully chosen and applied to minimize damage to beneficial insects while ridding the lawn of problem species. Application of insecticide also needs to be timed to the life cycle of the specific insect as well as coordinated with mowing and watering activities on the lawn. Finally, proper follow-up is critical to monitor the effectiveness of the insecticides.

Haggerty Pest Service is the local source for South Florida homeowners looking for an established, professional pest control provider. If you’re seeing signs that your lawn is becoming an insect breeding ground, turn to us for the expertise you can rely on to correct the problem.