| With the cool weather of the fall | | | | months. Fortunately as a fall lawn and |
| season, most lawn and garden pests and | | | | garden pest they do not do as much |
| diseases begin to dwindle away. Yet, | | | | damage as they do in the spring, but |
| there are a few lawn and garden pests | | | | they can still be a concern for some |
| that thrive off of the cool temperatures | | | | climate zones, especially those that |
| of the fall season. | | | | stay above freezing well into November. |
| One good | | | | Keep in mind that grubworms will usually |
| point about fall lawn and garden pests | | | | survive over the winter and turn into |
| is that they will not have the chance to | | | | adult beetles, repeating the entire life |
| last as long as spring and summer pests | | | | cycle in the spring, and this is why |
| because the freezing temperatures of | | | | grubworms can be such a problem for all |
| winter will kill them off long before | | | | seasons. |
| they do a tremendous amount of damage. | | | | Most of the time, they will hatch in the |
| Still, though, if these fall lawn and | | | | late summer and begin feeding on lawn |
| garden pests have been at it all summer | | | | and garden roots in the fall. This is |
| long, they may stick around through the | | | | when gardeners will notice patches of |
| fall and wreak havoc on the remaining | | | | dead grass or grass that is squishy or |
| lawn and garden perennials, bulbs and | | | | can easily be pulled up since the roots |
| trees. | | | | are missing. |
| Fall Armyworms | | | | If at all possible, apply grubworm |
| The most beautiful part about the fall | | | | control in the mid to late summer, |
| season is the different colors of | | | | something with the active ingredient |
| foliage that will begin to appear in | | | | imidacloprid, which is a |
| September and October. Unfortunately, | | | | chloro-nicotinyl compound. This will |
| Fall Armyworms love to prey on this | | | | kill the larvae before they get a chance |
| beautiful foliage during the fall | | | | to hatch in the late summer and will |
| months, as their name suggests, and can | | | | keep the life cycle from perpetuating. |
| do damage very rapidly. | | | | Sod Webworms |
| They usually appear in September and | | | | Similar to the grubworms, sod webworms |
| will stick around until the first big | | | | have a year long life cycle that means |
| frost. The major problem with this fall | | | | they can become fall lawn and garden |
| lawn and garden pest is that they almost | | | | pests as well as being bothersome during |
| always feed at night, making it hard to | | | | the spring and summer. Instead of |
| identify the problem until you wake in | | | | arriving in the form of beetles, the sod |
| the morning to leaves that have been | | | | webworms come from adult moths that |
| chewed around the edges. | | | | usually begin laying eggs in the spring. |
| The upside to Fall Armyworms as a fall | | | | The difference is that their eggs hatch |
| lawn and garden pest is that they are | | | | fairly quickly but the webworms are so |
| usually easy to spot, as they are a | | | | small that their infestation may go |
| large tan to dark brown colored worm | | | | undetected until they cocoon and |
| with a large stripe either brown or red | | | | reemerge as moths in the late summer to |
| in color on each side. | | | | produce another generation that is more |
| Fall | | | | destructive. This is why you may see sod |
| Armyworms often like to make themselves | | | | webworm problems in the fall months. |
| present in cornfields in the early fall | | | | While it is helpful to use preventive |
| months and can cause major damage to the | | | | sod webworm control through Microbial |
| remaining corn crops. For those farmers | | | | pesticides, the problem is that many of |
| and gardeners who are aware of Fall | | | | these pesticides will not only kill the |
| Armyworms, a pretreatment of pesticides | | | | moths of sod webworms, they may also |
| will usually kill the larvae that are | | | | kill butterflies and even non-pest |
| preparing to hatch. Unfortunately, the | | | | moths. |
| pretreatment needs to be established by | | | | The best method of prevention is to |
| late July or August to prevent damage in | | | | simply clean up leaves, grass clippings, |
| September. | | | | mulch and plant debris in the fall |
| Grubworms | | | | months to keep the webworms from making |
| Grubworms like the cool weather season | | | | webs in these places and producing more |
| and feed more in the spring and fall | | | | larvae. |