Quick Reference Guide to Combat Weeds, Disease and Insects in Your Garden
In order to keep your garden in the best condition possible it is important to be able to detect and treat any weeds, diseases or insect infestations. The following tables should serve as a valuable reference for the most common problems.
Weeds:
|
Type
|
Description
|
Control
|
|
BUCKTHORN |
Flowers in summer; withers in fall. |
Cut out, hand pull or use 2.4-D.
|
|
CLOVER |
Considered weed by those who object to white flower in lawn.
|
Repeated doses of 4-XD, MCP or other chemicals. |
|
CHICKWEED |
Spreading broadleaf with small white flower. |
Resists chemicals in cool weather; repeated treatments in warm weather.
|
|
CRAB GRASS |
Worst weed; spreads by seeds; annual; smooth and hairy types. |
Potassium cyanide, PMA or PC (follow directions exactly; PC browns lawn for 2 or 3 weeks).
|
|
DANDELION |
Broad, ragged leaf; yellow flower.
|
Hand pull and 2,4-D. |
|
FOXTAIL |
Annual; over 60 types; clustered seed-head with green-yellow bristle.
|
Prevent seed production. Collect clippings and burn. |
|
GOOSE GRASS |
Annual; flat, 3-fmgered-seed stem arrangement. Appears in hot weather.
|
Hand cut or use commercial drop of sulphuric acid. |
|
KNOTWEED |
Hot-weather weed; wiry stem; little leaf growth. |
Hoe; hand pull. Resists chemicals but succumbs to many treatments 2.4-D.
|
|
PLANTAIN |
Broadleaf; tall seed stalk. |
2,4-D.
|
|
QUACK GRASS |
Spreading, coarse growth; ashy-green stalks. |
Smother with paper or tar mulch to starve roots. Chemicals kill only top growth.
|
|
WILD ONION |
Deeply imbedded bulb-lets. |
Put lime in soil. Use chemicals when plants appear in spring. Try 2.4-D. (Hand pulling won’t work.)
|
Diseases:
|
Type
|
Description
|
Control
|
|
ALGAE |
Blue-green scum on wet lawns; form tough coating, turn black and leathery.
|
Rake from different angles; apply light sandy loam dressing. |
|
BROWN PATCH |
Fungous disease, in large (6 in.) or "dollar"-size circles. Attacks bent grasses and redtop.
|
Indicates poor drainage. Apply commercial fungicide. |
|
DAMWNG-OFF |
Brown patches on seedling grass. Fungus disease that withers grass.
|
No preventative known. |
|
LEAF SPOT |
Fungus that attacks Kentucky bluegrass. Tiny brown specks on blades. May be from mowing too closely.
|
Higher mowing; try light feeding to get stronger plant. |
|
SNOW MOLD |
On close-cut bent grasses in late fall or early spring. |
Apply mercury compounds.
|
|
SUN SCALD |
Injured or killed patches occurring during sunny part of day caused by waterlogged soil; suffocation of grass roots. |
Tile drainage for permanent relief; or spiking and turning. |
Insects:
|
Type
|
Description
|
Control
|
|
ANTS |
Black, hairy, hard-bodied type. Harm lawn indirectly by throwing up unsightly mounds; burrows hurt roots. Also, ants foster plant lice (aphids).
|
Lindane and chlordane poured into burrows (be sure to kill entire nest). Ant traps or jellies. Also fumigants, but use with caution. |
|
CHINCH BUGS |
Hairy type, 1/8 in. long. Black body, white wings. Sucks juice from leaves and stems (plants brown and die). Prefer thick turf.
|
Dust turf with Sabadilla dust, derris dust, DDT or nicotine, in clear, warm weather only. |
|
SOD WEBWORMS |
Small gray worm. Epidemics do much damage, but not many epidemics.
|
Commercial pest controls. Dry or dust mixtures better than spray. |
|
WHITE GRUBS |
Japanese and Asiatic beetles lay eggs in lawn in summer that hatch into tiny white grubs. Feed on grass roots until winter; return in April. Phenomenal rate of increase. |
Lead arsenate, a dangerous poison, was used till recently. Now possible to inoculate soil with disease that destroys grubs in the soil. In infested areas, use commercial pest control with fertilizer. |
A healthy turf will not in itself combat insects, but they will not be able to do as much damage if the grass is strong. If you suspect insects, such as grubs, roll back a foot of sod. The presence of some insect infestations in your lawn may be disclosed by flocks of birds, such as sparrows, starlings and grackles; they drill holes in the ground with their bills to feed on the grubs, sod webworms and other pests.
Moles are seldom a bother in turf areas except when attracted to grubs or other soil insects in the area. This provides the key to getting rid of moles—getting rid of grubs. Actually, moles can be beneficial, they eat bugs, beetles, earthworms, spiders and grubs. But they do harm a lawn when they cause bumpy ridges, which then become runways for mice—and mice feed on bulbs and roots.
