5 Reasons Your Yard is Infested with Pests

Grasshoppers, ants, mole crickets, grubs, and more. Anyone of these common pests could cause problems for your Florida yard. This could include dead grass, property damage, itchy bites, and more. If any of these issues are familiar frustrations to you, your Florida yard may be infested with pests. We can help you find out why.

1. Time of the Year

One possible reason that your yard is infested with pests is from the change of seasons. During warmer months, like the summer and spring, most bugs and other critters become more active, so you’re most likely to see them in your yard. As the weather cools down, there should be a decrease in insect activity. Since our climate in Florida is warmer than in other cooler regions, pests tend to hang around our yards longer.

There are a couple of options you can choose from to remove these pests. One method is to use a pesticide that deters insects and other critters from staying in your yard. Another more natural method to decrease pests is to burn citronella candles or plant bug-repellant plants like citronella, chrysanthemums, lavender, and more.

2. Lack of Good Insects and Arachnids

For every harmful pest, there is a beneficial pest to prey on it. While they may be unwelcome inside the house, outside, they are vital to your garden’s ecosystem. These bugs include spiders, ladybugs, dragonflies, lacewings, and ground beetles. If your yard is infested with pests, it may be because you lack these insects.

To increase these little helpers around your yard, you can add plants that attract beneficial insects to your yard. These plants could include bottlebrush, buckwheat, creeping thyme, mint, rudbeckia, and more. Also, to protect the critters that come around, make sure whatever pesticide you use only targets the specific pest you want to get rid of.

3. Issues with Watering

Another possible reason your yard is infested with pests is improper watering. To maintain a healthy lawn you need the right amount of water. Too little or too much, and it can quickly become unhealthy and an unhealthy yard is unable to fight off disease or bugs. Also, any stagnant water in your yard can quickly become a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other insects. To avoid attracting these pests to your yard, empty stagnant water, don’t overwater in rainy seasons, and water more in hot or dry weather.

4. Debris Around the Yard

Like birds use twigs for a nest, pests use various debris around your yard to make their home. Pests are attracted to debris as shelter or a food source. Most bugs like dark and damp places, which they could find in lawn clippings, leaf litter, fallen branches, mulch, and more. If your yard is infested with pests, you can start clearing them out by removing the debris from your yard. It’s also a good practice to make sure your trees are pruned, you’re not applying too much mulch, and that you are generally maintaining your lawn’s health.

5. Decaying Tree Stump

Along with debris, pests can also find shelter in another area of your lawn. If your yard is infested with pests, the source could be a dead or dying tree stump. As the stump decays, it creates a damp, dark, and cool environment inside, perfect for pests to nest in. To cut the pests off at the source, remove the dead stump. It’s possible to let the stump decay naturally, but that takes time and could worsen your pest problem. To remove your tree stump, you can burn it, pull it up manually, or grind it down. We recommend hiring a professional stump grinding service for the best and most efficient results.

The Drench Test

If you’ve been seeing pests around your yard, but are still unsure if it’s an infestation, you can perform a drench test to know for sure. For this test, you’ll need a good amount of soapy water to pour over the suspected infested area. If there’s anything living underneath, it will come to the top to avoid suffocation, and it’s likely your yard is infested with pests.

Effective and Efficient

Before you call pest control, you might be able to eliminate the source of your pest infestation by contacting us. We offer a professional stump grinding service to effectively and efficiently remove any tree stumps you might have. Contact us at Progressive Lawn and Landscaping for a quote on your tree stump removal.