Bugs That Benefit Your Lawn

After spending all season toiling away on your turf care in Vancouver, you suddenly discover that bugs have invaded! Talk about a nightmare! However, before you charge out to your lawn, pesticides blazing, reconsider your actions for a second. Pesticides may not complement your Vancouver turf maintenance. If they do kill off the bad bugs, you also risk killing off the beneficial lawn and garden bugs. These can improve the makeup of your property and reduce your lawn care needs. Before employing drastic measures, why not give the following beneficial bugs a change. Not only will your lawn be safer, but the environment will reap the benefits of "green" gardening.

Include Predator Bugs in Your Vancouver Turf Maintenance

Predatory insects are just that: mobile bugs who like to search out their prey. Some have sucking mouthparts that penetrate the soft body of their victim and suck out the internal fluids. Others have chewing mouthparts and feed on the entire body of their prey. Some common predators you may find during your turf care in Vancouver include:

• Ground beetles: these can be found all over North America. Both adults and larvae feed on soft-bodied insects and caterpillars. They move quickly, which enables them to "seek and destroy" their prey.
• Spiders: another extremely common bug, which is very efficient and preying upon other insects. While spiders aren't strictly considered insects, they feed on a wide variety of immature insects and mites. They are an essential player in stopping any problems in your Vancouver lawn before they start.
• Ants: while they go marching one by one, these carnivorous insects seek out other soft bodied organisms to provide provisions for their nest. In addition, said marching also helps with the breakdown of organic matter in your soil. However, if their activity becomes excessive, it may dry out the soil.

The Beneficial Parasite

While most people think of parasites as moochers, in your lawn, they're small insects (smaller than the host) that develop inside or on the body of another organism. Typically they will lay their eggs in a host and the immature parasites will feed on the host until it weakens and dies.

A common parasite that frequents your turf care in Vancouver is a member of the wasp family. Wasps like to lay eggs in soft-bodied insects and they won't actually bite or sting people.

Bringing in the Pitch-Hitter: Nematodes

Nematodes, or round worms, come in both harmful and beneficial varieties. The beneficial kind can help reduce grub infestation and can be very economical to use in your Vancouver turf maintenance. Beneficial nematodes like to feed on white grubs, sod webworms, and leather jackets. Unlike pesticides, they are 100% organic and safe, so your children and pets will still be able to play in the yard. They also won't bother the earthworms or other good insects in your lawn.

If All Else Fails…

At Nutri-Lawn we encourage environmentally friendly turf care in Vancouver as much as possible. As a part of our Ecologically Friendly Lawn Care, we employ an Integrated Pest Management strategy that helps to reduce pest populations to the point where the lawn is capable of recovering. While IPM does not equal pesticide-free turf, it tries to make pesticide use more efficient, which will ultimately reduce your usage of it. If the pitch-hitter doesn't work, sometimes you have to bring in the big guns.

If bugs have taken over your beautiful lawn, then contact Nutri-Lawn's Vancouver turf maintenance for a free, no obligation quote. We can help you get to the root of the problem and eradicate bugs.