Well-tended and healthy lawn is always beautiful and well appreciated. However, like any other planting, your home lawn may also experience a variety of issues.
The burrowing critters which may much through the grass roots and cause the top green to die or chewing insects which may attack the grass blades, there can be different bugs within your home lawn and it needs to be addressed timely before it makes your lawn look dull and cause further damages.
This article will answer What are the Flying Bugs in my Lawn?
But it is not necessary that you have to kill all the bugs that you see around your home lawn.
There are some bugs or insects which are considered worthy of your lawn and hence you need to be careful and avoid killing the insects that are beneficial in the process.
In most of the cases you must the matter to nature and let it solve the common problems of your lawn.
What are the Flying Bugs in my Lawn?
Below we will discuss some of the common flying bugs which you would usually find within your home lawn. In many a times, you will find the mosquito-like, tiny lawn gnats causing the problem as they float over the grass in larger swarms.
These gnats are hardly 0.3cm in length and this kind of pest usually breeds in rainy and hot weather conditions. In some cases, they may even breed in the damp soil that is very rich in putrefying plans or in the soil close to the composter.
Most of the homeowners are irritated with such lawn gnats, but in reality they are not at all harmful for your lawn. It is completely harmless, but you must always pay close attention to the larvae of this insect as it may damage the fine hairs of the plant roots.
Apart from this tiny flying menace, there are also other lawn bugs which can destroy and invade your lawn severely. Firt fly is the most common amongst them that usually breed close to the grass root and their larvae usually bore via the stem of the grass and it may cause your lawn to have patchy areas.
Some of the Other Bugs that You See in Your Lawn!
- Aphids – It weakens the grass of your lawn as it feed on it
- Ants– It never cause any damage to the grass, but they usually make tunnels through the soil which may prove to be an problem for your lawn
- Billbugs – This bug cause burrow in steams and cause severe damages to the lawn, especially the Zoysia Grass
- Armyworms – This is the kind of bug that actually feed on turf grass and consistently chew the grass leaves which damage the grass and make it fall down to ground
- Cutworms– This is the pest which can entirely damage the seedling of Bentgrass. Ryegrass, Bermudagtass and others by feeding on their leaves consistently
- Chinch Bugs – This bug usually feed on the leaves of St. Augustine Grass, and they cause no harm to any other grass like Bermuda, Centipeded and Zoysia grass
- Chiggers – This is the deadly bugs which can attack your entire lawn and cause skin itching and irritation and even redness.
- Fire Ants– Most of the lawns usually have fire ant mounds across the lawn and this can severally damage the lawn for long run
- Earwigs – This is the bug which is spotted occasionally in most of the lawn, especially in piles of lawn clippings.
- Earthworms – This may convert into harmful pest when they get too overwhelmed
- Grubs – This is the pest that usually grow beneath the soil and mainly feed the tender roots of the grass until they kill the entire plant from its root
- Grasshoppers – As the name goes, they feed on the leaves of the grass and usually avoid the well kept lawns and migrate to your lawn from croplands and wastelands located close to your house
- Millipedes and Centipedes – These are bugs that don’t harm your lawn and mainly feed on decaying vegetables
- Leafhoppers – It sucks the sap from the leaves of the grass and keeps on sapping until the entire lawn is destroyed.
- Japanese Beetles – It feeds on grassroots and the adult beetles damage the plant leaves. You can find best method to get rid of Japanese Beetles here.
Physical Controls for Bugs in Lawn
- Sand – Sprinkling 0.5 inches of sand over the surface of your lawn ground can destroy all the eggs which are laid by the adults on the moist soil of the lawn
- Potato Slices – This is the easy and efficient way to control the larvae of bugs
- Beer of Vinegar – Fill a jar with half of beer or apple cider vinegar and add few drops of dish soap in it and put back the lip. Ensure to make few holes in the lip to attract the bugs.
- Diatomaceous Earth – It is suggested to add mineralized fossil dust in your lawn so as to avoid the larvae from breeding. The microscopic silica that this fossil comprises of can damage the larvae of the insects.
Biological Controls of Insects
- You must remove the damp vegetation and dry the pounds, while allowing the soil surface to dry before watering again
- Ensure to use Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis which would help killing larvae of the insects in lawn
- Spray regularly the solution of nematodes steinernema feltiae in your lawn which can kill all flying insects and keep your lawn free from bugs
Chemical Control
The last option to keep your lawn free from insects and flying bugs is by spraying insecticides. You can make use of the liquid insecticide which is considered very effective against flying insects.
You need to spray the chemical on surface of the lawn on the day when there is no wind or rain. Ensure to keep checking the grass and surface after four days and repeat the process again.
Not to mention, these chemicals are not only harmful for the insects but also for you and hence you need to be careful enough when spaying the chemicals for lawn protection.