Sorry no pics; had all the grandkids today (two 4's, a 3 and a 1 year old!!) Will get a photo tomorrow & post it.
Anyway, much of our lawn is brown & crispy from the brutally hot, dry summer, although we're now catching up with rain, and the temps have cooled considerably. (Today's high: 49 F; normal is 67!) The last several days, we've noticed a few spots where something scraped the turf back. Size ranged from silver dollar size to fist size. Hubby and I both figured it was either birds scratching for bugs, or squirrels looking for buried treasures. I could easily flip the sod flap back with the toe of my shoe & "stomp the divot."
But today, there is a huge area (roughly 8 x 10 feet) of browned-out turf all loosened & tossed & dug into. Not dug deeply, just enough to lift the dried grass & get at whatever is on or just under the soil surface.
Would raccoons or possums dig like this looking for grubs or other yummy yuckies? It seems to have happened during the night.
WHAT is digging up our (brown) lawn???
Skunks, possums, moles, voles...any of those could be searching for grubs. You'll need to get rid of the grubs then the critters "shouldn't" dig.
Ooohhh noooo....I hadn't thought of skunks! I hope our dog doesn't run into one some night!
More damage today, and here are photos. This one is the biggest area I mentioned above.
This one shows what we awoke to this morning.
I figured we had a grub, or perhaps sod webworm problem when so much of the lawn suffered so badly this summer. So now to search for the best, quickest way to get rid of the creepy crawlers without poisoning the birds, the dog, and the grandkids. Although it's looking like backyard time for the kiddies may be over till next year.
Then there is also this: little piles of smooth, mud-colored balls. Could this be regurgitated mud? I don't think it's droppings. I searched all over the damaged areas, and don't think I found any droppings, unless the critter makes what looks like dog poop but a little smaller & looser.
I mean, when the bunnies feast on whatever weeds they like, I find piles of rabbit raisins that are obvious. I saw no obvious poo around these areas.
Cheryl, you definitely have a huge problem.
I suspected a grub problem in my lawn this summer .... a 2ft by 4ft patch of brown that no amount of watering helped .... did some research and decided to use MILKY SPORE ....purchased at home depot.
milky spore info
http://homeharvest.com/milkyspore.htm
MARY
Hi Mary,
I actually didn't think we had a grub problem, especially since we didn't have much of a Japanese beetle problem this year. I figured we had sod webworms, since I would see these tiny white flies coming up out of the grass when I was spraying some weeds earlier in the season. I've read that's a sign of the webworms.
I've heard of milky spore, in fact we used it at our old house years ago. But I understand it takes two or three years for milky spore to be fully effective.
But something sure found some tasty bug morsels under the dead parts of the grass! Fortunately, no new damage today, so maybe whatever it was, was just passing through. Certainly hope so! We're expecting a lawn service one of these days to aerate and then we'll overseed. Just glad this critter did it's damage BEFORE we top-dressed and overseeded!
It's such a challenge to love gardening & have a nice yard when you never know what Mother Nature will throw at you!
WOW What a mess, I haven't seen anything like that but Ric thought Grubs & Skunk. The dead grass sure looks like grub damage. Good luck with your problem. Holly
Yes Grubs and Moles sure were a problem this year here in South Jersey too. They were digging in areas that I couldn't even get a shovel in. We are planning on putting down Grub X this fall and then again in the spring. I can only hope it works.
Cheryl,
My first thought was squirrels too--but after your pictures--it HAS TO BE something bigger.
No matter WHO is digging up your lawn--they are all after the same thing......a good meal of grubs.
I was going to suggest GrubX also. There are now other brands of this that do the same thing.
It is claimed to kill BOTH generations of the Japanese Beetles--hatching/emerging Grub
stage and, in the fall, the newly hatched "grublets" (???)--before they burrow down in the soil.
This product also works on other grubs.....not just the Japanese beetle ones.
You can get it at HD .
Milky Spore is worth it only IF all your neighbors participate in a "group effort" on this.
Just treating your lawn will not keep the Beetles from flying over from your neighbors and
laying their eggs on your property. So--it helps if a whole neighborhood does this treatment.
MS is applied on the corners of, approximately, a 4'x4' area. Like 1tsp. at each. Think of a Checkerboard....
Because it consists of a living "microbe" (?)--it takes a few years for it to colonize over the whole area.
Then--it is supposed to be there "forever"......
HD carries it in a can about the size of a small Oatmeal canister. Not sure of the exact price----$25-$30???
I can check tomorrow and get back to you. I work at a HD.
Gita
I applied Milky Spore to my back yard in late June .... in the last two weeks, I have been preparing a fairly large portion in the extreme rear for my 2nd attempt in re-establishing a lawn there.
I gave up in July ... I could not keep up with the intense watering.
I have as yet to encounter one grub. I do think if any neighboring beetles lay eggs in my back yard ... the larvae will encounter milky spore and not survive the encounter.
Mary
Doing just your property is super fine and will largely keep the beetle population under controll for up to fifteen years.
As to fly ins.............You need those that fly in and lay eggs for it is their grubs that contact the spore and in dying and drying up creates another hot spot of Milky Spore. If you do not have fly ins the effective spore time shortens.
The good news is my treatments have lasted and remained effective for twelve to fifteen years right in the middle of a group of neighbors that have done nothing but attract more beetle by using those bag traps.
I've always heard that the best way to control beetles is gift all your neighbors a trap! chuckle, chuckle!
Doc's right, once treated milky spore persist for years, but the Grubx is a right now treatment, for worst case both can be used. Economically milky spore is the better investment in the long run.
Ric
Cheryl
You should read the info on this site
http://www.gardensalive.com/article.asp?ai=768&bhcd2=1287365893
I am sure glad I did not purchase grub x
Mary
merry, it would seem using both would be bad for the milky spore. It makes perfect sense that if you kill the host with some other means there is nothing to spread or perpetuate the disease. Thanks for the article. Ric
grub x is only a temporary fix .... you have to use it repeatedly.
Milky spore .... which I used has a more permanent potential.
Seems to me the milky spore route in the long run is cheaper and less work.
Mary
Although Milky Spore companies do not advertise it moles will move on to areas supporting more grubs as the grubs on your property are greatly reduced in numbers. So will the Flickers because their favorite meal will no longer be there. So will the skunks. They dig only when there is a high grub count.
About the only thing left to do to arrive at a beautiful lawn is One: Set the cut on your lawn mower to three or four inches and let the grass blades fall where they will. Two: Just simply stop using man made chemicals. Maybe a three. Grind your leaves into the lawn grass this fall instead of raking.
This message was edited Oct 18, 2010 1:36 PM
All my leaves get shredded ..... when the leaf clean-up drive starts and I have shredded all my leaves ....i plan to confiscate neighbors leaves bagged up for pick-up.
My major problem is squirrels ..... they are digging and burying their goodies in my newly seeded areas. Grrrrr
I find that most of the squirrel plantings can not stand up to the lawn mowing when the cut is three or four inches. Those plants just flat out evaporate when mowing begins.
doc--
I have to chuckle a bit....
Yesterday--I was trying to clean up pots and cell packs that have been laying around
with nothing much growing out of them...
As I dumped out one of the 6-cell packs, I found a large acorn buried in one of the cells.
It just about filled the whole sell. How desperate--funny?--is that???
I always cut my lawn at 3"--and have not used a bagger forever.....AND--NO! I do not have thatch!
Gita
Of course you should have a nice lawn and no thatch. I had a guy from my gym come to inspect my lawn. He left in amazement, set up to cut four inches and let the cuttings lay where they fell. This fall he called with a six pack just to tell me how nice his yard has become. I gave him five gallons of aerobic tea to serve as a fall snack now that winter approaches.
I am aways finding squirrel plantings in just about anything. I had a red squirrel literally fill one end of a canoe over the course of a summer.
My big lawn issue is perennial weeds. Wild strawberry and creeping charlie are two that the mower doesn't take care of. I don't think I have any lawn that is just grass a good bit of my lawn is clover. Ric planted it when the kids were little thinking it would stand up to their heavy play use and it did. But you really have to mow on schedule or the clover will flower and the grass will be full of honey bees.
I agree with Doc there are many ways to grow a nice healthy lawn without a lot of chemicals. Doc do you have any suggestions for me other than to use a broad leaf spray?
Ugh our back yard is now all weeds after that drought we had.
I guess the milky spore discussion is all figured out, just wanted to mention that even tho it is still in the stores I am pretty sure I rad while researching that you should wait till spring to apply it, not in the fall.
I find a surprising number of whole peanuts in my pots and never, ever give them out! THat acorn in the cell pack is cute.
I tried to (did) kill some clover a few years ago in the fall with broadleaf weed spray--only to have those areas colonized in spring by new other weeds. In theory, giving the grass its best conditions is a primary defense. Like doc implies, i think. In my yard though we skimp on grass care.
Sally, I would apply the milky spore now ....
The more grubs in the soil when you apply it the better, as infected grubs breed more of the disease. The best time to infect large numbers is in early Fall, when the grubs are in nice warm dirt, chewing grass roots madly to put on fat for the wintertime.
Mary
Well, OK then, it just seemed I recalled advice otherwise.
My moles have always kept their wanderings confined to an area in the back where we don't care much about the grass quality, and Jap beetles have never been a problem here oddly. Blackspot kills all my roses anyway.
Those squiggly muddy 'piles' in the one picture look sort of like worm poo, some anyway.
I think if I put on a broad leaf spray I would lose 75% of my lawn. There won't be much lawn in the upper back yard when I get done back there. If we ever get done. ;} So I was thinking I could dig up what is left and put in some really nice grass. Not sure what to do out front. But lawn is pretty low on the priority list.
My hubby wants to spray the whole thing down and then power seed it. idk???? I think we should just power seed it and see what happens.
I understand about weedy lawn. I had an area that was more than 80% weeds. I did not want to use chemicals ..... it took me weeks to remove them by hand. The COBRA tool did make it easier. I grass seeded this area last week.
If I had not retired May 1st that area would still be mostly weeds.
MARY
jen then you have established weeds competing with baby grass.
No weeds. I was on my hands and knees with my trusty COBRA ...... doing a 2' by 4' section at a time .... that is why it took me weeks to deweed the entire area .... each day I would review previous deweeded areas to make sure there were no weeds left
When I finished I had a lot of bare ground.
MARY
OK! everyone--I have several comments to make--so i will just address the paragraphs as i go.
doc---
I had a guest stay here from LA for a while this past summer. Old friend from 50 years ago.
He loved to sit on my patio and watch the Chipmunks and the squirrels munching away--ad infinitum.....
EVERY morning....He would put a handful of Sunflower seeds out--whistle--and the Chipmunks kept coming.
I told him that if you feed squirrels unshelled peanuts here--they will eat the first one--and then bury all
the following ones. He was like--NO WAY! They will eat them all!
SO! I threw out a hand-full of in-shell peanuts--and all the squirrels proved my case. They ate the first one...
Holly---
If you have that many weeds--you may have to take a drastic approach.
IF you can afford it--have a REPUTABLE lawn service Co. Round-Up your whole lawn. KILL IT ALL!
A month later--they will core-aerate it and re-seed it and you will have the best lawn ever.
My neighbor had it done a few years ago by "NaturaLawn of America". and, eventually,
it was the best lawn I have ever seen. I believe their Home base is in PA.
I have a pretty good lawn--but over the last couple of years, I have had a lot of Clover spreading out all over
Might be from seed I put down after I had my dead Spruce cut down and they smitherneed the stump..
Not sure if I should kill it--or enjoy it. i DO, basically, consider it a weed. "ORTHO" now makes
weed-specific weed killers. Crabgrass--Clover--Poison Ivy--etc. "Ortho" Max will even kill Crabgrass
in the younger stages. I have a bottle waiting for Spring....
I have also been invaded by a lot of Crabgrass all along my Median Strip. Verizon has been digging
this area up for for 2 years now--installing "Fios" cables about 3' down-- all along.
All that has done is bring up a lot of base-soil and clay and stones...
Oh, sure! They will throw down some "soil" and seed it and then cover it all with tons of straw--
which I raked off and used to mulch all my tomatoes with, but the grass seed they used was crap!
Most of it has died out--and I have, either sodded those areas--or re-seeded them.
Seeding is much better done NOW! The soil is still warm and that will help seed germination.
If you seed in Spring--the soils is pretty cold--and germination will take a lot longer...
PLEASE--also know--that you still have to prepare the soil somehow before seeding.
Rough it up a bit! Use a rake. Then--if you do not have good soil--HD sells large bags of
"Seeding Soil"--$5.97. Besides it being a nice, rich soil--it also contains Starter Fertilizer for grass seed.
Truly--there is HUGE difference in germination if you use this!
Lastly--Mowing your lawn high (3"-4") will stifle most weeds from taking a foot-hold.
NOT bagging your grass clippings will, naturally, feed your lawn. IF you have a "mulcher blade"
on your Mower--MULCH! That is what it is there for!!! Dump the grass catcher bag! GONE!!!
You are sending "garden gold" to the dump sites!!! STOP IT!!!!!!!!!!
OK! I am now, officially, off my soap box.......WHEW!!!
Gita
If you don't bag a weedy lawn though you are just spreading the weed seeds, that's the problem we have(hubby doesn't want to bag). We have almost an acre and there is NO WAY I'm pulling all that out by hand.
One landscaper suggested doing it in sections, killing all the weeds and reseed, fence it off to keep the dog and kids off it until it becomes established...my solution rip it all and put in gardens.☺
Holly exaggerates a bit, we do have a lot of lawn weeds, I try and dig the worst by hand; we do have dwarf white clover that was treated so it fixes nitrogen in the soil as legumes do, as well as storing water in it's root system making the turf more drought hardy. I blended the backyard for the kids, using a fairway mix so they could not wear it out, even under the swings. I'm thinking of trashing the whole thing and reseeding with a slower growing mix that will not require mowing from Easter till Thanksgiving. As far as having a monoculture picture perfect lawn, I don't want one. One of the biggest jobs I have is: at the minimum, dead heading all the weeds before they set seed, removing perennial weeds from the lawn, and clearing the uninvited from the ground covers On my prayer bones too often for an old man. Ric
I often bag if anything is in seed stage!
This message was edited Oct 19, 2010 8:54 PM
Never to old to be on your "prayer bones"
The clover I def don't mind, attracts the honey bees and keeps my daughter busy
Ric---
When I last visited my younger Sister, who lives in Homer, AK--she had ordered, ON LINE,
seed for White Clover.....I think her lawn was really NOTHING--and she tried to green it up some way..
I now seem to have a lot of white Clover in my front lawn.
Should I be worried???? Should I just let it grow instead of trying to kill it with "Ortho"-whatever??
I have always had a "pristine "lawn". Used to have a Lawn Service for about 15 years....
THEN--They would come with these motorized. lawn spreaders that zipped throughout my property
in about 10 minutes---and the charge as about $45.
I decided that I could do all the same myself--and I have never had a better lawn since!
Now--I am faced with fighting Crab Grass that I never had....Mostly in the medium.
I guess I will have to apply the Pre-Emergent fertilizer by Scott's. Hate to have to pay $17 something
for a small bag of it!!! BUT......
Plans are made--and then broken.....And life goes on....
Gita
Gita, White clover in your lawn should not be a problem unless you want a pristine monoculture. Clover usually helps green a lawn and make it more drought hardy. Ric
White clover is a common lawn plant here. It is a plant that pumps nitrogen into the soil. My mix is about a third white clover and is cut with the grass at about four inches leaving the leaves to fall where they will. I would flat out get the evil eye if I even thought of taking out the clover. LOL
Just catching up with all the comments here. Thanks, all, for your input.
The critters seem to have eaten their fill & moved on. Hubby raked out the mess they made.
We have since had a lawn company come in & core-aerate. Then hubby did a little top-dressing where needed with topsoil, and overseeded the entire lawn & spread starter fertilizer. Any leaves will be mulched with the mower. We'll definitely treat with Grub-X or Milky Spore as well, have to study both & see which can go down when. From past experience, I definitely feel that organic fertilizers are far superior to the chemical versions. Seems every time hubby uses a chemical fertilizer, he ends up burning big sections of lawn, even with a new spreader.
Weeds weren't *too* much of a problem, except for violets which are very difficult to get rid of. We've used a few treatments of Ortho's Weed-B-Gone Max, in a 2-gallon pump sprayer, to spot-treat the weeds. It works pretty well if done in the right conditions. Our biggest problem was that creeping stuff, with the round, scallop-edged leaves. The Ortho took care of that quite well. The violets seem to require several repeat treatments...groan >E
Hopefully the entire lawn will be in better condition next year, to survive whatever Mother Nature throws at us.
I just hope she's kinder than she's been this year....
Sorry to report that I know of nothing absolutely nothing that will take out the violets with any degree of success. I do not even try anymore. Best bet is to make peace and enjoy the little critters.