Dig A Trench And Line It
Controlling moles and gophers where they dig is a big part of getting rid of them. For moles, dig a trench roughly 6 inches wide and 2 feet deep. Then, fill the trench with rock or line it with wire mesh or hardware cloth that has holes no bigger than 3/4 inches wide. This will prevent moles from burrowing into your lawn or garden.
Deter gophers by digging a trench around your flower bed or vegetable garden and burying a wire mesh screen or hardware cloth in it. Again, make sure the holes in the wire mesh or hardware cloth are no bigger than 3/4 inches wide.
Is There Too Much Shade
Moss is a shade-loving plant, which is the exact opposite of most turfgrass. So if you find that you are struggling against a carpet of moss, look up. Even shade-tolerant turfgrasslike fescue in cooler regions or zoysia grass in warmer climatesneeds 6 hours of sunlight or 12 hours of partial sunlight every day. If you find that your grass is struggling to grow and moss is thriving, try reducing the shade. Selectively prune your trees, removing branches below eight feet. Also, thin out some of the canopy to allow more light to filter through. Alternatively, if you dont want to give up the shade, consider turning the area into a bed with mulch or pine straw. You can also use a shade-loving groundcover other than turfgrass.
How To Get Rid Of Grass
There are several ways to get rid of grass, whether you’re reducing the size of your lawn or making room for a new planting bed or garden. The two basic approaches are to kill the grass or to remove it. Both can be done organically, without the use of chemical herbicides. Removing the grass is harder physical work, but it’s generally faster, and it gets rid of the grass layer, lowering the height of the ground. Killing the grass organically involves smothering it with a material. This is the easiest method if you plan to use the area as a mulched bed with shrubs.
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When To Get Rid Of Wild Violets
Using herbicide to eradicate wild violets is best undertaken in the fall. At this time, the herbicide will be transported down to the taproot as the plant stores nutrients for winter. Thus, you have a good chance of the herbicide killing the plant all the way down to ground level with a fall application. If you use herbicide in the spring or summer, it might only temporarily kill the surface leaves, allowing the plant to rebound.
Removing Grass By Digging
The most thorough way to get rid of grass is to physically remove it, roots and all, using a spade or shovel. Alternatively, you can use a sod cutter, but in any case, you have to pick up the chunks or strips of grass and shake off the soil. If you skip this step and simply discard the grass, you’ll lose precious topsoil, and the waste will be extremely bulky and heavy .
Therefore, a sod cutter doesn’t save you much time and isn’t worth the expense and hassle, unless you’re planning to replace the topsoil layer with sand or new soil for some reason.
When digging up the grass, dig down just far enough to get all of the fibrous grass roots. You can cut the grass into 1-foot-wide strips, using a flat spade or an edger, then dig under the strip with a shovel to remove to sod layer. Finally, shake out as much topsoil as possible, and discard or compost the grass.
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Start In The Least Visible Part Of Your Property
If possible, we suggest you start with the backyard, and not the front. Your front yard is more likely to be subject to weed complaints, and neighbors grumbling as they pass by. It will also allow you to learn from the experience before moving to the more visible parts of your property.
Neighbor grumbling is completely natural. Many folks have become accustomed to the look of lawns in their communities, and make a connection between meadows and tall grasses with disarray, mess, and pests. By following some of these tips, youll hopefully minimize the grumbles, and eventually, turn your neighbors opinions around.
Get Rid Of Their Food
Moles love insects. Things like grubs are delicious treats for them. If youre getting moles, theres a likelihood you have a healthy grub population too.
Taking measures to get grubs out of your yard with yearly grub treatments, youll make your lawn less attractive to moles. If they dont find enough food, theyll leave sooner or later.
However, this is only partially effective, as they may stay and feed on other insects, like worms. This mole prevention strategy is good, but its not usually an effective mole removal strategy.
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Can Mushrooms Be Killed With A Lawn Mower
If the mushrooms are small, and there are only one or two individual mushrooms, you may be able to remove them simply by going over them with a lawn mower. However, if the mushrooms have had time to spread then there is a very good chance that they will continue to grow back, especially if you didnt clean up the grass clippings.
How Do Lawn Mushrooms Affect My Yard
Mushrooms arent just a threat to the most vulnerable in your household, but they can also damage your lawn. If you want a pretty yard, the mushrooms will eventually have to go. Underneath mushrooms is a mat-like hyphae that serves as its underground supportive network. This hyphae mat can become thick enough to prevent your grass from getting the nutrients it needs, causing parts of your lawn to turn brown.
Its easy to tell where the hyphae are due to the brown circular ring pattern that appears in the grass. These spots indicate that there is a deeply rooted network of grown fungus spores and the grass cannot thrive. Mushrooms can also decompose in your yard, causing undesirable smells. Some species also smell bad when living and can attract flies.
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How Weeds In Lawns Work
To understand how to treat a lawn, its important to understand the weeds themselves. Weeds are plants, just like the grass in your lawn. Because they are plants, weeds flourish in the same conditions that a lush, green lawn would. Weeds also grow when the grass is cut low and the soil is compacted. These ideal conditions can lead to a lawn full of weeds, but there are a few different types of weeds to be aware of:
- Broadleaf weed. These weeds include dandelions, clover, ground ivy, oxalis, chickweed, thistle, dollarweed, and plantain. The leaves on these weeds are broad and flat.
- Grassy weed. These weeds include crabgrass, foxtail, annual bluegrass, and quackgrass. These weeds grow in blades and look like grass.
- Grass-like weed. These weeds include nut sedge, wild onion, and wild garlic. These weeds may look somewhat like grass, but they grow in a more tubular and hollow shape.
Its important to identify which type of weeds are growing in your yard before choosing a treatment. Some products are specifically designed for certain types of weeds and can only be used for that kind.
Got A Stubborn Spot Install Something On Top
If mushrooms keep on returning to a hot spot and you don’t have time to aerate or treat this spot of your lawn, simply place something on top of it like a pergola or gazebo. Either option requires a foundation that can cover up the trouble spot easily. If you choose a brick paver or concrete foundation, it will be extremely difficult for mushrooms to ever reclaim the spot. This option achieves two goals at once: you get rid of the mushrooms and get a fun place to enjoy your yard.
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Toadstools In Lawn Are They Poisonous
Toadstools are poisonous. Toadstools contain chemicals that can be harmful to humans and animals. Toadstool poisoning can cause vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain.
In severe cases it may lead to loss of consciousness or even death.
Toadstools are toxic and can cause severe illness and death. The toxins in toadstools are called amatoxins. These toxins attack the liver and kidneys, causing severe illness.
Symptoms of amatoxin poisoning include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, weakness, dizziness, headache, fever and chills. If left untreated or if not treated early enough in the course of disease, death can occur.
Amatoxins can be absorbed through the skin by touching toadstools or from eating meat that has been contaminated with these toxins.
Toadstools contain hallucinogenic compounds that can make you sick. These hallucinogenic compounds are called muscarine and ibotenic acid.
These compounds can cause symptoms such as hallucinations , confusion and disorientation when ingested in large quantities or over a long period of time.
In addition to being hallucinogenic in high doses, they can also cause dry mouth and excessive sweating when ingested in smaller amounts over a longer period of time.
If you think your pet may have eaten a mushroom or part of one: Call your veterinarian immediately! Do not wait for symptoms to appear before seeking treatment for your pet!
If you suspect someone has consumed something poisonous call 911 right away!
What Is The Most Important Thing To Consider When Trying To Remove Mushrooms From Your Yard
In order to create an environment that mushrooms cant survive in, airflow is very important. You should try to make sure the area is clear so air can pass through the area where the mushrooms are growing and dry out the soil a bit. For this reason, always keep the area clear of grass clipping, thatch, and other material that could protect the mushroom from air.
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Too Much Moisture On The Grass
Mushrooms need a lot of moisture in order to grow, so if you have too much water on your lawn, they will start appearing everywhere.
If this happens, make sure you water your lawn only at certain times during the day and not when its raining outside. Also, make sure you keep an eye out for any leaks in your sprinkler system as they may be watering too much.
How Do Professionals Get Rid Of Gophers
Depending on the severity of the gopher infestation, a professional pest management company like Smiths will offer a mixture of no-kill methods and conventional options, including the following:
- Trapping. Smiths trained pest control experts will locate gopher tunnels, expose a small portion of them, and place professional-grade, stainless steel traps inside the tunnel. Well cover the trap, mark it with a flag, and return in a few days to remove gophers and re-set traps.
- Carbon monoxide gopher removal. If trapping gophers is a concern, our trained techs can inject carbon monoxide into the gopher holes. This method satisfies Healthy Schools Act requirements and is an excellent solution for daycare centers and schools.
- Annual gopher removal. Since gopher infestation can be a recurring problem, Smiths also offers a yearly gopher removal program, within which a technical services the property every month, and adjusting the gopher removal approach accordingly to ensure your yard stays beautiful and gopher-free.
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How To Identify Moles
Moles are solitary, insect-eating animals that live underground and rarely come to the surface, usually only to find a mate. They burrow a foot deep into the soil, using their front paws to dig a network of underground tunnels.
How can you identify a mole? They are around seven inches long with pointed muzzles, tiny eyes and hairless snouts. Their eyes and ear canals are concealed by fur, and they don’t have external ears. Their forefeet are very large and broad with webbed toes, but their hind feet are narrow with slender claws.
In their natural environment or in large, open rural areas, moles do not cause significant damage. Its only when they make their way into your lawn and garden that they become a problem. Moles naturally aerate soil and eat the larvae of destructive insects. However, in your yard, they’ll also destroy plant roots, bulbs and grass. The tell-tale sign that you have a mole infestation is not seeing the mole itself, but the presence of small, volcano-shaped mounds and raised ridges of dirt in your yard.
How Can You Eliminate Lawn Mites Fast
Lawn mites might seem like minor bugs. However, once they reach sufficient numbers, the mites can cause significant damage to your grass. Mostly, youll notice a patch of grass that seems burnt. In a severe infestation, you could even lose your entire lawn.
So, you can probably see why its so important to get rid of lawn mites and to do so fast. Here are a few steps you can follow to do just that.
Identify Lawn Mite Infestation
First of all, you need to know what youre dealing with. Usually, the first sign of a mite infestation is damaged grass. These bugs feed on the sap from grass leaves, so youll quickly notice discolored leaves.
Also, if theres a severe infestation, you can even see mites crawling around your lawn. Check out the underside of your grass leaves for small red dots moving about.
Isolate
Once you confirm the presence of a heavy mite infestation on your lawn, you have to quarantine that area. You can isolate the red zone by digging a trench to mark the infested region. Once these insects exhaust all the lush greenery in one spot, theyll eventually move to the next patch.
Apply Insecticide
An insecticide is a surefire way of handling mites. The insecticide targets octopamine receptors in mites. These nerve points control how insects move, their heart rate, metabolism, etc. Such chemicals are often combined with botanical repellants and geraniol.
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Dan Stevens Is The Perfect Date In I’m Your Man At The Virtual Kcet Cinema Series On Sept 22
And so to removing lawn. The good news: Water savings and new design options await. The bad news: It’s a lot easier to put in grass than to take it out. In evolutionary terms, grass is a pioneer plant that can establish almost anywhere. Its roots have tenacious survival mechanisms. It can root in a crack in the sidewalk. It’s quick to set seed. Those seeds sail on wind, hitch rides on animals, and insinuate themselves into the soles of shoes. Some grasses don’t even need seed to spread. They clone themselves from the roots. In other words, when you decide to kill grass, you’re up against evolution itself. And you will fail. So the art in removing a lawn is choosing the grass-removing techniques that fail best while building up a new ecology that favors successor plants.
The four most widely recommended lawn removal methods sound like chapter headings from a murderer’s handbook: chopping, poisoning, cooking, and smothering. Whichever one you choose, the process starts the same way: Cut the grass as short to the soil line as possible. String trimmers can be rented cheaply from lawnmower shops and do a good job. Dispose of cuttings and seedlings, then, 24 hours before you plan to start work, water the lawn deeply enough to penetrate the root zone four to six inches.
And so to the four schools of de-lawning:
Sod lawns that were rolled out like carpets are relatively easy to cut up and roll up again.
Next installment: Shaping the new space.
How To Get Rid Of Clover In My Lawn
Clover is a common weed that invades lawns that lack maintenance or nutrients. Although it unharmful for lawns, some people prefer to get rid of it for the simple reason that its white flowers attract insects. Getting rid of the clover once it’s established can be difficult, but with the right tools and patience you’ll get it done. In this article, we share different methods to help you get rid of clover and control it.
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The Problem With Grass Lawns
Many people like to maintain a modest lawn as a place for their kids to play. Or, to serve as a doggy potty. I get that. On the other hand, the majority of grass is not used for those purposes. Our country is obsessed with maintaining excessively huge green lawns simply out of bad habit, and lack of creative vision for something different! According to the National Resources Defense Council, turf grass lawns cover up to 50 MILLION acres of land in the United States alone. And all of that manicured green grass comes with a cost.
Every year across the country, lawns consume nearly 3 trillion gallons of water a year, 200 million gallons of gas , and 70 million pounds of pesticides.
Wow. Pretty nasty, huh? Those pesticides run off into waterways, kill bees, and poison wildlife. The gas used pollutes the air. Think of all that water used! Furthermore, grass takes away valuable habitat space from native wildlife. Sure, a few worms and grubs may enjoy living in a lawn unless it is doused in pesticides, that is. Otherwise grass is a pretty lifeless space.
Now imagine if those 50 million acres of grass were transformed to grow veggies, flowering perennials, edible shrubs, annual flowers, native plants, and fruiting or ornamental trees instead? Those are the building blocks of a diverse and healthy ecosystem right there. Plus, with thoughtful design, organic native and edible landscapes require far less maintenance and resources than grass.
