Why Do Critters Dig up your Lawn and What you can do about it

Skunks, Raccoons, Weeds Oh My!

We get a lot of calls from homeowners who have lost their lawn to raccoons, skunks, or weeds. Though the physical demolishing can occur overnight, the contributing causes actually happen in advance. Most lawns have grubs and earth worms in their soil. But a weak, unhealthy lawn encourages tasty grubs to proliferate which contributes to racoons, skunks, and other pests finding and feasting on their increased numbers. It’s part of the cycle of life in nature that one species controls the abundance of another. Weeds and crabgrass also love nutrient deprived, sparsely seeded grass and will overtime squeeze out or thin a lawn. This can leave your lawn looking less than stellar and often can be overwhelming as a homeowner to deal with. 

The steps to a healthy lawn are actually quite simple. Aeration, Fertilization, Top Dressing and cutting your grass a healthy 2-3” height are the key steps a homeowner needs to take. This isn’t just recommended for problem lawns, but should be part of a complete lawn maintenance program.

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Aeration  

Here’s a closer look at why you need to aerate and fertilize your lawn. Grass takes a beating. It is walked on, packed down by snow and ice all winter and dried out in summer. Once it’s impacted, the health of your lawn is compromised and the weeds will flourish.  That’s when most homeowners call in a pesticide company.

In Toronto, there is a bylaw against the use of pesticides, and for good reason. So to protect the health of your lawn without the use of chemicals, you need to start the spring and end the fall with the Aeration, Fertilization and Top Dressing Process.  That way you will minimize weeds and grubs and have healthy thick grass without pesticides.

For some lawns the grub problem needs more than just the basics. For significant grub problems the best treatment available is the application of nematodes for your lawn. These should be applied by landscaping professionals (like Landcare) to treat for grubs and stop pesky critters from digging up your lawn. Nematodes are a safe and chemical free solution in which success is dependent on the proper type of nematode, proper conditions for application and an accurate assessment of the number of applications required. 

If unsure what approach your property can benefit most from, that is OKAY! Landscaping professionals like landcare are meant to be a form of expertise that will understand what your property will benefit most from in order to look its best all year round. 

Landcare was founded in 1993 as a Chemical Free Lawn Care Service. We have been providing pesticide free maintenance for more than 30 years. No landscape/maintenance company knows how to keep grass healthier than us!

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