What Organisms Hurt or Help Your Lawn
Written by Rachel Downey
My Mission: To educate my customers on how to achieve the perfect lawn and landscaping.
Many different organisms -- moles, grubs, earthworms -- live in your lawn. Some organisms are beneficial to your lawn while others are destructive. It’s important to know the type of organisms present in your lawn, so you know if you need to take action. Below are some of the organisms that may harm or help your lawn.
Organisms That Hurt Your Lawn
1. Grubs
What Are They?
There are many different types of grubs, but they all can damage your lawn. Grubs eat grass roots and organic matter in your soil. At the beginning of summer, beetles arrive and may decide your lawn is a good home. The beetles lay eggs in your lawn. These eggs hatch into grubs. Grubs will live deep in the soil during the winter and emerge at the beginning of summer as adult beetles. They then start laying their own eggs.
How Can You Spot Them?
You may see dead patches in your lawn. If you have dead patches of grass and pull the dead patch up, you may see grubs in your soil. Count how many grubs there are in one square foot. If you see ten or more in one square foot, you need to apply an insecticide.
How Can You Prevent Them?
Apply a grub control product on your lawn during spring or early summer. Keep your lawn healthy because a healthy lawn can tolerate grubs better.
2. Chinch Bugs
What Are They?
Chinch bugs, a type of beetle, are very tiny insects that live in your lawn. They are about ⅕ inches long. Chinch bugs prefer St. Augustine grass and zoysia grass. They eat the nutrients in your grass blades and kill the grass.
How Can You Spot Them?
It can be a little tricky to spot chinch bugs because they are so tiny. Try using a magnifying glass to look at the soil to spot them. You can also take a can that is open on both ends. Stick the can a few inches into the soil and fill the can with water. After ten minutes, stir the water and look for chinch bugs that may float to the top.
How Can You Prevent Them?
Chinch bugs prefer dry and hot weather conditions. Make sure your lawn gets at least one inch of rain every week. Thatching your lawn in the winter helps, since chinch bugs hibernate in the soil’s surface.
3. Moles
What Are They?
Moles dig underground tunnels throughout your yard. They eat insects instead of your grass. But the underground tunnels can be harmful to your lawn. Moles like moist soil and are usually seen in the spring and fall.
How Can You Spot Them?
Piles of soil on your lawn can be a sign of a mole. As moles dig close to the soil’s surface, they push the soil up and create these volcano-like piles.
How Can You Prevent Them?
Trapping is the best way to get rid of moles from your lawn. Release the mole away from your home and others homes. Also, make sure you do not have too many other pests in your lawn since moles eat grubs and other insects. Another option is to buy mole repellent to spray on your grass.
Organisms That Help Your Lawn
1. Earthworms
What Are They?
Earthworms live in the soil underneath the grass. They eat organic matter and microorganisms living in the soil.
How Do They Help Your Lawn?
As earthworms move through the soil, they help mix up the nutrients in the soil. They increase aeration and help water move through the ground. Earthworms drop castings in the soil as they eat, and castings have beneficial nutrients.
How Can You Spot Them?
Earthworms sometimes come to the surface when it rains and the soil is moist. Piles of castings are another sign of earthworms. If the castings are making your lawn look lumpy, use a rake to remove them.
2. Bacteria
What Are They?
Bacteria are microorganisms that cannot be seen by the naked eye. Bacteria live on almost every surface on Earth.
How Do They Help Your Lawn?
When people hear the word bacteria, they usually think of it as a bad thing. Bacteria can have beneficial qualities. Bacteria ingests organic matter in the soil and converts it into food for the grass. Other microorganisms besides bacteria have similar benefits to plants. Certain bacteria can harm your lawn, but your lawn still needs bacteria to stay healthy.
How Can You Spot Them?
You cannot see bacteria with the naked eye. A microscope is needed to see the bacteria.