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Army worm or sod web worm can be really bad news and can attack all sorts of lawns right across Australia. Sadly their favourite lawn is a healthy one.
If you notice a patch of lawn that is slightly shorter or thinner or that looks like it might have been recently mown (but you know it hasn’t) you could have army worm.
Sir Walter is a tough lawn that rarely suffers from any insect, pest or disease problems. In fact most Sir Walter lawn enquiries result in poor soil, low or no fertiliser or a lack of water. So if you find that your turf is not performing in the growing season do the following before contacting your grower.
Fertilise
Fertilise your lawn with 40g per square metre with Sir Walter Lawn Food or similar and water in until the lawn becomes soft. Repeat deep watering once per week for 6 weeks. Always pick a small area of about 1 square metre and apply twice the amount of fertiliser and water this area as a benchmark.
Water
Here is another great tip for you, have a look and see if your lawn is growing better underneath a tap or close to a water source, if it is that probably means that your whole lawn needs more water. Also if it is greener or generally looking better next to your garden beds, it could be that fertiliser and nutrients are leeching from the garden beds into the turf and that would indicate that all of your lawn probably needs a good fertilising.
Soil
Ensure that your lawn has at least 100mm of good soil underneath it, if not top dressing may be necessary.Once all these steps have been followed and at least 6 weeks of this treatment has been applied then it’s time to contact us for more help.
Seasonal
If your lawn is not looking too flash in winter, it probably means you haven’t done the right thing in autumn to give it the legs to get through the colder months. If that is the case just wait until spring comes around and the weather warms up and you can get back into your full lawn care maintenance program.
Naturally if you notice an invasion of grubs or insects, immediate action will be required to deal with them.
Army worm or sod web worm can be really bad news and attack all sorts of lawns in various parts of the country. These guys are bad news and very destructive. It depends on where you live to what time of year they will attack.
Tell-tale signs
What you want to watch out for are moths, either flying around a light or flying off as you walk across the lawn, because what they are doing is laying their eggs. Now the worms themselves they can be green, brownish green or black in appearance, sometimes with a stripe or triangular markings. They will hatch after about 5-7 days and that’s where the big damage is done. They attack the lawn eating it and interestingly they don’t just attack any lawn they go for a nice healthy looking lawn a bit like your Sir Walter so you need to be very careful. And once they have exhausted the food supply, they all get up in big groups and move on a bit like an army on the march.
If you do notice a patch or areas of your lawn that look a bit thinner or shorter or look like they have been mown you could have army worm.
One way to check for it is to get down on your hands and knees where the damaged area meets your normal lawn and prise the lawn apart because this could well be the army front line. What you will see is maybe some worms or some little green balls which is the waste product, basically your old lawn gone wrong. What you need to do is treat this with a fast acting insecticide such as the Sir Walter pest control, remember always read the directions first.
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