How To Handle Three Common Types of Lawn Damage

Having a green lawn is something that many homeowners strive to achieve.  Between lawn sprinkler installation, fertilizing, and professional lawn care, maintaining an amazing lawn is no easy task. Especially when there are so many factors (disease, pests, weather, etc.) to fight against! Is your property headed down a destructive path? Consider the following: there are three frequent forms of damage that can send your perfect lawn into a downward spiral, regardless of your lawn sprinkler system. Here's how to handle them.

1. Animal urine burns
Pet urine is extremely acidic. As such, it often causes burns to your turf.  Damaged areas will arise in the form of brown and yellow spots. 

There are a few things you can do to prevent or treat this type of damage.

• Stop your dog from urinating in one spot.  You can either encourage your pet to travel around the yard, or begin to take them for frequent walks.  By doing this you can stop the build up of urine in your lawn and prevent damage. 
• Dilute their urine.  After you've had your lawn sprinkler installation appointment, you can use your irrigation system to protect your lawn from the acidity of dog urine.  Try to ensure your pet's routine is in line with your lawn sprinklers in Ottawa, or else go out and manually water within an hour of their urination.  In fact, by doing this you're actually helping your lawn.  Diluted pet urine helps fertilize your grass and could improve its health and colour. 
• Fertilize properly.  Having a healthy, strong lawn is the key to prevention of any kind of damage. 

2. Get rid of grubs
Grubs are an extremely potent and destructive force as they make it their mission to damage the root system of your grass.  They are the larvae of beetles, and have a worm-like body. 

Grubs can easily and quickly destroy vast portions of your lawn.  The problem with finding grubs is that the same kind of damage can be done by a drought or other pest invasions.  You can look for grubs in the topsoil by pulling up a small amount of grass.  Grab a fistful of turf.  If the grass comes out easily, almost like carpet, then it's likely that you have grubs.  When you do this you may even see grubs on the now bare spot. 

Sometimes homeowners decide to stop using their lawn sprinklers in order to dry out the lawn and kill the grubs.  While this option will work, it will also have unappealing consequences for the aesthetics of your landscape.  Try adding more shade, as grubs dislike areas that aren't bright and sunny. 

Of course, insecticides are always available to get rid of grubs.  To learn more about grub control, with or without insecticides, check out our article on grubs. 

3. Moles and voles
These furry burrowing animals can be quite destructive to the root system of your lawn.  While voles are stout, mouse-like animals that eat mainly plants and some dead animals, moles feed on worms and other invertebrates.  The burrows that they build are used to help the rodents get around your lawn undetected, as well as to trap their food.

These can cause damage to the structure of your grass's root system.  Voles may even eat the roots and plants in your lawn. 

To get rid of these pests you can do a few simple things.

• Bring around natural predators.  Voles can be kept at bay if you have a cat, or if hawks, owls, and snakes are frequent visitors to your lawn.
• Mousetraps work for voles.  If you want to take this route, bait the traps.
• Place chicken wire around your plants.  Dig these into the ground a bit so that the rodents have a difficult time tunnelling through to your beds.
• Put traps around mole burrows.  These can be bought to either kill or contain the mole.  If you trap the mole, it's easy to relocate it to a new area where it will not cause harm.

After these problems are solved, hire Nutri-Lawn for the best lawn sprinkler installation and start the road back to a healthy lawn!

Get your complimentary quote for a lawn sprinkler system installation today!