Got Bugs?

Okay, so for the past few years our city has been plagued with moths. You know those white little things that fly up from your lawn as you try to walk across or nest on your door so when you open it they fly in your face. I picked up a neighbor the other day for swim practice and he groans, "we have moths, everywhere. They're everywhere!" He kept saying "everywhere" for a few minutes. I think it's haunting him. The worst part isn't the annoying moths though, it's the larva that hatch in your grass and eat the roots killing your lawn. Do you have dead patches yet? Can you pull the dead grass up easily? Yep. Not cool.

So a few years ago this happened to us and I freaked out. We watered, sprayed bug killer like crazy, and our lawn was still dying. Then something magical happened. I discovered arbico.com. They sell a solution that has worked for me for years and I am now using at our new house because once again, it's infested. They are called Beneficial Nematodes. I'm going to give you all the info you need to order them and then, trust me, you will see results. The stuff I've ordered is called NemAttack, it's designed for southern states with warmer climates but sandy soil. If you have really bad clay soil you can look into the one for Northern states (same price, etc.). It's $80 for a farm size order. I realize most of you don't live on farms but the first year we did this the guy told me to put the whole thing on my grass and I did and by September I had lush green grass again. So if you have a really bad problem use the whole thing. Otherwise, use half and give the other half to a neighbor (you'll both appreciate it).

What is this stuff? Nematodes are microscopic worms that inject bacteria into the larva of the moths and then eat them. So cool. They are totally organic so you can spray it on your plants, garden, whatever. They eat more than just sodwebworm or cutworm but ticks and fleas and some other stuff (see website). The other cool thing is they are alive (no more spraying moths every few weeks) and sometimes they survive the winter but I treat my lawn every year just in case, but it only needs to be treated once a year.

The tricky thing is they ship overnight and have to be immediately refrigerated. Since they're alive they will die in hot weather (i.e. sitting on your porch, waiting for you to come home), not so effective then. You have to spray them on your lawn in the evening (I usually try to wait for one of those summer storms that drops the temp into the 80's). So watch the weather, and your plans. Pick a day you know you'll be home then order them. You need to use a clean hose sprayer and mix them in water, then spray them onto your lawn.

One more thing. They don't kill live moths. Moths fly in from the neighbors so you won't know it's working just by seeing how many moths fly up in your face. You'll know it's working when you see your dead grass patches come back to life. It will probably take a few weeks. Last year I didn't think we had a problem until the middle of July (right now). I ordered mine the weekend of the 24th and by the end of August our grass was lush and green. If you need a second testimonial ask Ken Goates.

You know, if we could get the whole city to do this for a few years I think we would get rid of the problem but that's wishful thinking. The best thing we can do is share with a neighbor. Hence the post. Good luck.