Keeping your lawn green and healthy takes time, effort and commitment, but even the best-kept lawns can be invaded by outdoor pests that can cause significant damages. No matter how well-manicured your lawn is, you need lawn pest control services in Bergen County, NJ to protect it year-round.
Insects, diseases and outdoor pests prey on unhealthy and ill-maintained lawns. If they invade your lawn and landscape, they can cause extensive damage to your grass, shrubs and trees, and even invade your home through the foundation, basement and attic. Annoying insects and pests can ruin your outdoor activities, pose health risks for your children and pets and encourage additional outdoor pests to make a home in your landscape. Take a look at five reasons you should invest in lawn pest control services in Bergen County, NJ.
1. Protect Your Lawn and Landscape
Regular lawn care and maintenance not only keeps your lawn green and healthy, it also provides protection against insects, diseases and outdoor pests. Tall, overgrown grass and shrubs, dead and wet leaves and any type of lawn debris provide an open invitation for lawn problems. Ill-manicured lawns and landscapes provide the perfect environment for insects, diseases and pests to thrive.
To prevent pest problems, it’s important to keep your lawn well-maintained with weekly mowing, regular weeding and regular yard cleanup to remove dead leaves and debris. This is especially important in the spring before summer heat and in the fall before winter weather. Without regular lawn care and maintenance, your grass can quickly become overgrown, resulting in an ill-kept appearance for your home and a multitude of problems for your lawn and landscape. Talk to a qualified, professional landscape company who can provide regular lawn care and maintenance, as well as lawn pest control services in Bergen County, NJ. Professional landscape companies have people who are experienced and well-trained in all types of pest control services for your home.
Tiny insects like aphids, mealybugs, small caterpillars and beetles, underground wire worms, fire ants, slimy slugs and snails will eagerly feed on lawns that are malnourished and unhealthy. Particularly common to Northern New Jersey areas, chinch bugs, grubs, Japanese beetles, army worms and European crane flies can cause a lot of damage to your lawn.
- Chinch Bugs – In August and early September, chinch bugs typically attack thick, sunny turf areas by sucking the juices out of the grass blades and injecting a toxin that loosens grass roots from the soil. They love cool-season grasses and feed at night when grass is cool and moist. If you notice that your grass is turning yellow or reddish-brown in color, and lifts up easily from the soil like a patch of carpet, you most likely have a chinch bug problem.
- Grubs – In June and early July, grubs can invade your lawn and cause brown patches that will become extensive by fall. Grubs, small worm-like insects that resemble caterpillars, live in the soil beneath the grass, so you rarely see them. If your grass looks yellow-brown and scorched, and sod lifts up easily around the scorched patches, you probably have a grub infestation.
- Japanese Beetles – In June, beetles invade and attack, starting with top foliage and moving their way downward. While they don’t actually eat the grass itself, they lay their eggs in the soil, and these eggs turn into white grubs in early to mid-spring. Grubs will definitely eat your grass and its roots leaving patches of brown or dead turf. If you notice signs of chewed-on leaves, plants or fruit in your yard, you may have a problem with Japanese beetles.
- Army Worms – During the fall when temperatures are cool and air is moist, army worms feed at night in your lawn. They resemble caterpillars with a long, dark stripes down each side of their back. These small, harmless looking insects usually invade in large numbers and can eat your grass right down to the soil, leaving you with brown or bare spots in your lawn.
- European Crane Flies – Common to Northwest regions like New Jersey, these insects look like over-sized mosquitoes. They hatch their larvae, called leatherjackets, in the fall, who feed on grass roots throughout the winter. When spring arrives, your lawn will appear weak, unhealthy and damaged with yellow spots or missing turf. If you spot these conditions, check the top three inches of sod from February to mid-May. Shady and wet areas are particularly vulnerable to European crane flies and their larvae.
2. Protect Your Garden
Garden pests, a variety of small animals, can cause significant damage to your beautiful flower or vegetable garden. These cute little critters are attracted to food sources like berries, fruits, vegetables, edible plants and even insects in your lawn and garden. If you notice signs of garden pests, contact a qualified landscape company who can provide lawn pest control services in Bergen County, NJ.
- Chipmunks – Eastern chipmunks, common to Northern NJ, primarily feed on on grains, berries, seeds and insects, but they will also dig up and eat flower bulbs and seedlings. These expert burrowers can do a lot of damage to your garden, especially in large numbers.
- Moles – Moles dig tunnels by pushing underground soil up to the top of the ground. They usually feed on insects like grubs and chinch bugs that live in the soil. Moles will leave volcano-looking mounds throughout your entire lawn and garden if they’re not stopped.
- Rabbits – Rabbits, the most frequently seen garden pests, are often observed browsing in residential garden areas. They can damage flowers, vegetable, shrubs and trees, especially in the spring when young, tender plant materials are growing. Signs of rabbits in the garden are distinct round droppings, gnawed woody plant stems and visible tracks.
- Raccoons – Raccoons normally feed on vegetation, but they eat food and fruit if it’s available. Raccoons like to dig, and they often seek safe refuge underneath things like your deck or house where they feel un-threatened, especially when they are having babies.
- Deer – Deer like to graze mainly on vegetation, but they may be lured into your garden or landscape by fallen fruit and green plants. Although deer aren’t dangerous, they can cause significant damages to your landscape and garden by grazing on various types of plants.
Garden pests and small animals can create quite a nuisance, and they’re difficult to get rid of without proper lawn pest control services in Bergen County, NJ. To protect your garden with edible plants and fruits, invest in organic pest control that focuses on safe, chemical-free solutions.
3. Protect Your Children and Pets
Insects and outdoor pests not only cause problems in your lawn, garden and landscape, they can also cause harm to your children and pets. There are a number of outdoor pests that can be dangerous if encountered in the yard. Lawn pest control services in Bergen County, NJ is essential to protect your family and pets from these dangerous outdoor pests.
Spiders
Spiders are considered to be a nuisance pest and most are not dangerous, but if they bite, it can cause a reaction including swelling, itching, redness and mild pain around the site. Black widow spiders and brown recluse spiders, both common in Northern NJ, are considered to be dangerous because their venom is powerful enough to cause a serious reaction. If you’re bitten by a poisonous spider you should seek medical attention immediately.
- Black widow spiders are a poisonous species that are black in color and have a distinctive red hourglass shape under their abdomen. They are about 1 ½ inches long with a fat, round body shape.
- Brown recluse spiders are poisonous, dark brown spiders with a violin-like marking on their back. They range in size from ¼-inch to ½-inch of an inch. They spin very irregular shaped webs to nest in.
Fleas and Ticks
Common to all areas of the country, fleas and ticks can easily invade your landscape, especially during warm summer months. Flea bites cause skin irritation, itching and blood loss, and some species can carry bubonic plague and typhus fever. Other species are intermediate carriers of tapeworms which can affect both humans and pets if fleas are ingested. Ticks can carry and transmit diseases like Lyme disease, Colorado tick fever and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Lyme disease, the most common vector-borne disease in the country, can cause a variety of illness symptoms that range from mild to severe.
Wasps, Yellow Jackets and Hornets
If you have small children and pets who spend a lot of time outdoors, you need to protect them from painful stings with proper lawn pest control services in Bergen County, NJ. Wasps, yellow jackets and hornets deliver powerful, painful stings that can cause swelling, pain, redness and infection. Many children, as well as adults, are allergic to bee stings. A sting can result in breathing problems and anaphylaxis, a severe, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction which requires immediate emergency treatment.
Mosquitoes
Mosquitoes, common outdoor pests, can make outdoor activities and entertaining miserable, especially in spring and summer. Mosquito bites cause itching and swelling in humans, but can also cause more serious illness. Some species transmit West Nile Virus which causes severe illness, swelling of the brain and paralysis. Mosquito bites in dogs can cause heart worms, leading to severe illness and death of your pet. You can reduce mosquitoes in your landscape by eliminating standing water, thinning out vegetation and providing year-round lawn pest control services in Bergen County, NJ.
4. Protect Your Home
Roaches
Roaches are known to spread germs and disease. They crawl over opened food items and may defecate on it, leaving behind hair and dead skin, or spreading germs and bacteria from their own gut. As disgusting as this sounds, roaches can also cause allergic reactions and asthma symptoms, especially in young children and people with compromised immune systems.
Rats and Mice
Rats and mice can invade your yard and landscape looking for food, especially if there’s debris in the yard. They can gnaw through many different types of materials, including aluminum siding, cinder block and even concrete in some cases, causing significant damage to your property and home. Rat bites or scratches can result in disease or rat-bite fever, and rat urine can spread leptospirosis, a bacterial infection that can affect humans and animals. Lawn pest control services in Bergen County, NJ will protect your family and pets from infections.
Termites
If you’re unlucky enough to have a termite infestation, you could be looking at extensive damage to your home’s foundation and structure. Termites can hide out undetected for long periods of time, while quietly eating away at the wood supports and features of your home. It’s estimated that termites cause $5 billion in damages every year. No home is immune to termites, but regular lawn care and property maintenance can help. Get rid of debris and wood piles near your home. If you use firewood, make sure you store it at least 25 feet away from your house.
5. Peace Of Mind
Perhaps the biggest perk of all is that lawn pest control services in Bergen County, NJ will give you peace of mind knowing that you’re doing everything possible to protect your lawn and landscape, your children and pets and your home. You don’t have to worry about lawn damage from insects and diseases or outdoor pests. You can provide a safe outdoor environment for your children and pets and a safe indoor environment for your family. By hiring a landscape company who can provide professional lawn pest care services, you can keep insects and pests out of your lawn and landscape and away from your home. Although year-round lawn pest care services may cost you a little more money, knowing that your home is safe from the threat of outdoor insects and pests is enough to make lawn pest control services in Bergen County, NJ a worthwhile investment.
