Hidden Danger: Winter Mites Can Eat Your Lawn Even When Covered With a Blanket of Snow
Burr, its cold outside! You may be staying inside, sipping hot cocoa and thinking that at least your lawn is safe from insects and bugs, which the cold must kill or at least put to sleep. Wrong! Winter mites could be on the prowl, even under the snow, devastating your lawn unseen and unnoticed and leaving you with a bare, patchy lawn come spring.
These mighty mites are small but deadly — so small that you’d need a magnifying glass to even see them. But these little insects can cause big damage, making your formerly green lawn looking like a harvested hay field in fall. Sucking the life out of your grass, these destructive insects literally take the green out of your green grass, turning it brown. They will kill your lawn if you don’t stop them.
Many different types of winter mites exist and thrive, but primary offenders include clover mites, grass mites and winter grain mites. Depending on the type of mite that you’ve got, different approaches will be necessary to rid your lawn of these tiny pests. This can be confusing for the homeowner, given the array of different mites and the arsenal of treatments for them. Fortunately, you have a locally owned and operated company familiar with the most common mites in Colorado and the most effective ways of dispatching them so your lawn will remain green and healthy.
Though you may not see the mites working under the snow, you’ll notice their damage once the snow melts. If you’re lucky, they’ll only have begun to do their dirty work — you’ll notice small yellow specks on your grass. If they’ve had time to feed on your lawn and spread, however, you’ll see large swaths of dead grass. These mites favor working in sunny spots, so the sunnier parts of your lawn are a good place to look for these pests. Make sure especially to check the southern- and western-facing parts of your lawn. These pests tend to do the worst damage during warmer winters. They generally hatch their eggs in the fall and diminish during the spring, when the adults die after laying eggs on your dead grass — so their offspring can return for more of your green grassy lawn next winter!
FitTurf.com’s expert staff knows exactly what to look for in dealing with these destructive pests and how to stop them dead in their tracks. Usually, spraying with a miticide will get the problem under control, and FitTurf.com offers a four-application spraying program that will rid you of these noxious pests.
If you’ve discovered the problems too late, FitTurf.com can also clear out the mites from your old lawn and then begin renovating your lawn with a complete aeration and over-seeding. If you suspect mites are at work on your lawn, even if covered by snow, contact us for a free consultation.