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Smart Landscaping Ideas to Get Rid of Common Pests

7. July 2020 Administrator Landscape Contractor Articles, Lawn Care Tips (0)

By Guest Blogger Raymond Web

Just like your home, your yard can get infested with pests. The lawn is one area that is ideal for pests to build their nests. Once they invade the lawn, it becomes fairly easy for them to come inside and infest your home.

Pests come in all types; no matter how big or small your lawn is, they will infest it. If you don’t do anything about it, they will enter your house to damage your property and pose a threat to you and your family.

Common Lawn Pests

Wondering what pests are problematic? Check out our list of common pests.

Ants: Ants are not a direct threat to lawns, but they are a nuisance. Some ants like fire ants build anthills while some ants like carpenter ants infest wood and other items built with wood.

Hornets & Wasps: It is best to keep wasp away from your lawn and your homes. However, before taking any action to address wasp infestation, make sure you know the species. Some species are aggressive, and their stings may cause an allergic reaction in many people. It is recommended to take help from a pest control expert to tackle wasp infestation.

Armyworms: Armyworms are smooth-skinned, about 1 1/2 inches long, striped, and generally are yellow, dark brown, green, or black in color. They feed on grass and create brown patches on them.

Billbugs: These grubs are C-shaped, about 3/8 of an inch long with red-colored heads. They damage the turf in irregular patches.

Burrowing & digging mammals, mice: Moles, gophers, chipmunks, or groundhogs dig the ground and form tunnels. They are also responsible for creating mounds.

Grubs (Chafer grubs, White grubs): Masked chafer grubs eat the roots of lawn grasses, and create irregular patches of brown.

Green June Beetle Grubs: These cream-colored beetles with orange-brown headscreate tunnels in the lawn, which dries the soil and makes it spongy.

Cutworms: Cutworms can have a devastating effect on the plants, including holes in the leaves and fallen plants.

Fleas: Fleas don’t harm the lawns, but they can be a nuisance for people or pets using the lawns.

Mosquitoes: Mosquitoes do not damage the lawn, but they can transmit a number of diseases to humans through their bites.

Ticks: These small parasitic arachnids feed in the blood of their host and swell up. They are not a threat to the lawns, but they can cause harm to humans and pets.

Sod webworm: These pests eat the foliage and not roots. Hence they leave the area of the lawn brown or completely bare.

Landscaping Ideas to Keep Your Lawn Pest-Free

Mow Your Lawn: Ants, cockroaches, termites, fleas, mosquitoes, and other insects look for a safe place to live and reproduce. The tall grass in your yard is perfect for doing both. So, mow your lawn frequently and keep it short.
Turn Your Mulch: Insects, such as fire ants, build their nests with small organic material. If you don’t want them to build nests in your lawn, use a rake to shift the mulch around.
Reduce Shade: Dense shade prevents the sun from drying the lawn areas, making the environment conducive for pests to thrive. Trim the things to provide the necessary sunlight so that the soil in your yard is less inviting to pests
Trim Bushes and Trees: A yard that is not maintained is a magnet for pests as some of them use the branches as a bridge to get into your house. Make your home less accessible to them by trimming the bushes and trees.
DrainStagnant Water: The stagnant water in your lawn attracts mosquitoes to lay their eggs. Check around the exterior of your house to see if there areany drainage issues resulting in puddles. If you have a pondor a swimming pool, cover it when not in use. Make sure you regularly drain and refill it.
Remove Rotting Wood: Rotting wood makes for a perfect home for termites. If you want your home safe from termites, remove any dead tree stumps or fallen trees on your property as quickly as possible. If you need to store wood, place it above the ground. This practice will prevent the termites from coming inside your house.
Place Pest Repelling Plants: The best way to keep the pest away naturally is to grow plants that are known to repel them. Do your research to find more about these pest-repelling plants. Some of the known pest-repelling plants are:

Chrysanthemums
Marigolds
Lavender
Petunias
Citronella
Peppermint
Basil
Catnip
Mint
Rosemary

Consider the Lights: Many insects are drawn to the exterior lights on your lawn. It is best to put off the lights at night. Consider replacing white bulbs with insect-resistant light bulbs.
Pluck the Weed: Weeds grow in patches around the house. If the weeds are not plucked, pests will come into your yard and then eventually into your home. So, pluck them regularly to keep pests from away from you and your family.
Insects and animals are essential to keep the balance in the ecosystem. But if these pests are problematic, you need to get rid of them as soon as possible. Along with taking care of your lawn and garden make sure to take necessary steps to prevent indoor pest infestation. These top nine best practices can help you make your lawn pest-free.

Author Bio:

When people find their homes and offices infested with pests, it is not uncommon for them to panic. Raymond Web has taken the task to educate people on pest prevention and control strategies helping them keep their surroundings healthy, safe and pest-free. Being the digital marketing manager for Take Care Termite and Pest Control, in Tracy, CA, he has an in-depth understanding of people and their pain points due to pests, which he uses in his content to educate.

What a Landscaper can do during COVID-19

1. April 2020 Administrator Landscape Contractor Articles (0)

It is times like this, we need to rally our Landscape family together. As some of you are able to stay open and some of you are forced to shut down by your state. Everything we have seen so far, for the most part, you can classify your self as an essential-business as long as your state has written any language like maintenance, lawn care and landscaping into their Essential business list. There seems to be some leeway in the terminology. companies still operating during the coronavirus crisis, following comprehensive safety guidelines is crucial. Below are some COVID-19 safety recommendations from the Pennsylvania Landscape & Nursery Association (PLNA):

Contact and get permission from clients to be serviced — preferably in a documented format such as email or other time/date stamped electronic communication.
Implement daily all-staff communications within the company to inform, educate, and reinforce Standard Operating Procedures, best management practices, and possible next steps.
Relax attendance policies to allow any employee who is uncomfortable working to stay home and use paid time off or apply for unemployment.
Train crew personnel to be able to respond to questions from the public in a professional manner. (While maintaining social distancing.)
Enforce cleaning and sanitation protocols for all common spaces including trucks and equipment. (Remember tools, handles, steering wheels, etc.)
Stagger crew start times to minimize congregation at office/shop locations.
Limit crews to ONE person per truck and have all other crew personnel drive directly to the job site.
Assign one truck to one crew and do not rotate.
Minimize use of shared equipment and tools.
Wear gloves as much as possible, removing only to eat or drink.
If you must work in close proximity to another for a short period of time (i.e. lifting a tree ball into a hole), wear a face mask.
Be prepared to shutdown at any moment.

While the National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP) urges its members to follow CDC guidelines, it has also provided COVID-19 safety procedures from a few members as reference. While different, each policy had some specifics worth thinking about beyond the basics. Pacific Landscape Management in Hillsboro, OR, has a plan that mentions setting up wash stations, instructing employees to bring water jugs to use hand soap left in trucks for field work, and flexible policies to permit employees to stay at home to care for a sick family member. Sun Valley Landscaping in Omaha, NE , recognizing different employees conduct their jobs differently, broke down its guidelines by position. It included very specific COVID-19 safety rules on social distancing, disinfecting, and bathroom use. For instance, those in the field are instructed to “use designated porta potty for field staff. Wash hands thoroughly and wipe down any surfaces touched prior.” Additionally, “Any time you are disinfecting, wear a clean pair of gloves and then throw away after disinfecting.”

Z-Spray Parts Now With Exmark

5. November 2019 Administrator General Industry News, ProParts Direct Website News (0)

In acquiring L.T. Rich Products, Toro hopes to complement its existing equipment lineups. L.T. Rich Products’ Z-Spray line, for example, are innovative stand-on spreaders and sprayers. “With a shared commitment to innovation and serving customers, we look forward to having our products become a part of The Toro Company,” said Tom Rich, president of L.T. Rich Products, in a news release. “We believe that Toro’s strong history, market leadership, and resources will further enable our continued growth in the market.” The Z-Spray Line will remain its own independent line under the Exmark brand for now. Toro will make a few machines that will use the Zmax line of spreaders.

Z-Spray Calibration, Parts Manuals and Install Instructions

ProParts direct also has posted the calibration manuals, all parts manuals and Install instructions. All manuals are PDF's and can be printed off and downloaded at no charge. These Manuals can be found at the bottom of the Z-Spray parts models page.

Z-Spray Online Parts Support

All parts will be converted to Exmark part numbers over a period of the next year. ProParts Direct is taking the lead in providing Z-spray parts online and making it easy to order parts for your Z-Max, Intermediate, Junior and Z-Plug machines. You will be able to search for the new part using the old part number. You can also search by the machine you have. Here is a link to the Z-Spray parts. Click Here

What You Can Do Locally to Help Combat Climate Change

25. October 2018 Administrator Your Yard and The Earth (0)

Climate change is real, and it’s happening at an alarming rate. Man has hastened the amount of carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases present in our atmosphere through industrial processes and agricultural proliferation. The global temperature is increasing, polar ice is melting, and the sea levels are on the rise. The effects of climate change are far-reaching and have the potential to impact weather, food production, animal habitat, and much more. Here’s what you can do, locally, to help combat it.

Start At Home

You can’t look outward until you look inward. In other words, figure out how to implement some green changes at home first. Your first step is to invest in energy-efficient appliances (dishwasher, washer/dryer, and fridge) and lighting options. Next, practice water conservation. Take fewer baths and more showers. Save cooking water to help water plants. Install a rain barrel to collect rainwater for your lawn. Remember: If you’re not actively using water, turn it off (this includes while brushing your teeth!).

Change the way you commute

One of the things you probably do every day that contributes the most to climate change is driving your car. While telling you to give up your automobile is not realistic, and recommending that you get a hybrid or electric car may be cost-prohibitive, it’s reasonable to suggest you use your car less. Switching up your commute is a viable solution. Walk more. Ride a bike sometimes. Use public transportation as much as you can. Carpool. All of this helps.

Eat local and sustainable

You can do your part at the local market to reduce the effects of big agriculture on climate change. When shopping for your family’s groceries, try to buy local, organic, and sustainable. Yes, it may cost a little more. But your wallet is a great tool in combating climate change. If you can, buy your dairy and produce at local farmers markets. The less distance your food has to travel before it reaches your plate, the better for the environment. You can even try to grow your own food (or at least some of it).

Recycle, yes, but first reduce and reuse

Remember the three Rs: Reduce, reuse, and recycle. There’s a reason they come in that order. Recycling is good, but it takes energy to recycle stuff. Your ultimate goal should be to mostly eliminate non-recyclable trash and severely limit what you put in your recycling bin. Think reduce and reuse first.

“It turns out that transporting and processing materials for recycling is carbon intensive. Recycling still uses less energy than making new products from scratch, but reducing and reusing are even cleaner,” notes Forbes.

Write Your Local Politicians

You can do all the biking, recycling, and water conservation you can manage, and it won’t be enough to tackle the enormity of our global climate change problem. That’s where local officials come into play. All politics is local they say, but what they really mean is that politics begin at the local level and spread from there. So make sure to write your local government officials about your concerns about climate change.

The vast majority of scientists agree that we are at a tipping point when it comes to climate, and the actions of you, your neighbors, and everyday citizens all around the globe will determine which way we tip.

Photo by Kaur Martin on Unsplash

Smart Landscaping Ideas to Get Rid of Common Pests

What a Landscaper can do during COVID-19

Z-Spray Parts Now With Exmark

What You Can Do Locally to Help Combat Climate Change

ProParts Direct is your one-stop parts store for Lawn Mowers Parts, Chainsaw Parts, Engines Parts, Snow Blowers and all landscaping equipment parts.

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