Not sure what it is this year, but I’ve been plagued by an infestation of sod web worms. We have St. Augustine grass which is well suited to the humid climate, but in summer months, if it’s not fungus, we’re dealing with some other pest. Seems more pronounced in recent years since the grass hasn’t been going dormant in the winter…Well, that’s the price you pay for having turf grass.
Next to chinch bugs though, sod web worms are top on my list of most hated pests. Walking through the grass you’ll see small brow moths flying everywhere and brown patches where they’ve started to damage the lawn. I do my own maintenance including fertilizing and insect control. I don’t cheap out on products and follow a specific regimen based on the calendar and temps. That’s usually enough to keep the lawn in good shape. This year however, even following this protocol we still got hit, In all likelihood the heavy rains washed the insecticide out of the lawn, so I’ve reapplied granules, active ingredient bifenthrin. If that doesn’t take care of it, I’ll get out the liquid stuff. They’re usually pretty easy to get under control and once gone the lawn will recover fairly quickly.
Thanks for listening, I’m just venting…like tending to fruit trees there’s a learning curve to lawn care and mistakes in both cases can be costly…