Residential Lawn Maintenance for Insect Prevention

Your lawn can be a comfortable and enjoyable place. Not only for sitting, entertaining, and playing, but also for enhancing the curb appeal and aesthetic of your property. However, you’re not the only one who enjoys it. Common insects and pests can also thrive in your yard, making outside time unpleasant, and they can even infiltrate your home or business if your lawn isn’t properly maintained. This can be a big issue for your home or your business’ lawn. However, before you call an exterminator, or fight back against pests with different poisons and other toxic materials, some simple lawn maintenance habits can keep your yard looking great and insect-free.

Tips for Keeping Your Lawn Insect Free

There are many simple and seasonal tasks that you can do, or hire a lawn care professional to do, that will keep your yard looking beautiful, and pests at bay. 

·       Seed sparse areas during the fall (rye grass) and spring (Bermuda blends) months

·       Keep your mower blades sharp

·       Aerate your lawn annually

·       Water your lawn during dry spells (especially if it begins to wilt)

·       Maintain the height of your grass to no lower than 3” when you mow.

Be Aware of Your Lawn’s Condition

The most important step to take toward a beautiful, and pest-free lawn is to understand what condition your grass is in, and what can be done to improve it. How is the soil? What kind of grass makes up your lawn? Are there areas of overgrowth? What is your weed situation? All of this data can lead you in the right direction to not only improve your lawn’s appearance, but it will also mitigate the opportunity for pests to establish themselves.

Keeping your grass cut to an ideal length on a regular basis is essential to its health and ability to ward off insects. Not too short, not too high. Overgrown grass can attract ticks, mosquitos, and other pesky critters. Using sharp mower blades, following a routine mowing schedule, and keeping the lawn around three inches, can create a beautiful landscape, all while keeping pesky insects away. 

Furthermore, providing adequate, but not too much water is critical for a healthy lawn. Also, be sure to keep runners and weeds from creeping into or away from flowerbeds. A precise trimming routine will prevent issues from developing, making the consequences more difficult to deal with in the future. Lastly keep an eye on any weeds trying to take hold in your lawn. Weeds can steal the water and nutrients that your lawn needs to thrive. Some weeds also attract insects and pests more than others!

DIY Pest Control for Your Lawn

You don’t have to have a career in pest control in order to help keep insects under control, you just have to have the right knowledge in order to accomplish great results. There are many products, both granular and liquid that are available to homeowners via big box stores or more reliably, local nurseries and garden centers. These products, when applied correctly and according to the label instructions, are a great way for both immediate and long-term control of insects ranging from fire ants to mole crickets to chinch bugs. All that is required normally is a walk-behind or chest-style spreader for granular products or a hose and hose-end sprayer bottle for liquid controls. We recommend chatting with your local garden centers and letting them set you up for success in helping treat and keep pests out of your lawn and making it all the more enjoyable. 

If you’re tired of the pests in and around your grass bugging you, take back control of your lawn. The expert staff at Kyle’s Lawn and Landscape can get your yard in shape and keep it that way.