Your Garden Pest Guide
Weeds, improper fertilization, and lack of water are not the only things that can damage your lawn or garden.
There are also a variety of pests that may infiltrate your yard, making it impossible to enjoy a beautifully maintained landscape.
Here are some common pests,ways to identify them, and ways to get them out of your lawn and where they belong: Moles Moles are small round creatures with long flat noses and five finger-like appendages on each small arm.
However, they are so tricky that you may not ever be able to spot them.
So look for the holes that they dig-they are usually tiny holes, and leave mounds of dirt strewn all over.
These mounds are usually a few inches high, and are shaped like miniature volcanoes.
There are traps to catch these creatures without killing them, in which case they can be relocated far away where they will no longer bother your garden.
However, there are other mole traps and poisons that will kill them outright, and guarantee that you will not have a continuing mole problem.
Gophers Gophers are very similar to moles in that they dig underground tunnels, leave mounds of dirt on your lawn, and can disrupt the root system of your plants, grass and trees.
They even look almost the same as moles; though they are usually a little longer, thinner and lighter colored, it is very difficult to tell them apart.
So again, look to their dirt mounds to tell which kind of pest it is.
Gopher mounds are less high, and are usually fan-shaped or horse-shoe shaped.
The ways to get rid of them are also similar-with traps or poison.
If you feel like mole and gopher traps and poison are inhumane, you can also apply something called a milky spore disease that will kill worms and other insects, which are your pests' food supply.
Once they no longer have food, they will leave your property alone.
However, most garden and lawn owners simply feel it is more convenient to buy the variety of mole and gopher traps available, to have your landscape looking beautiful again.
There are also a variety of pests that may infiltrate your yard, making it impossible to enjoy a beautifully maintained landscape.
Here are some common pests,ways to identify them, and ways to get them out of your lawn and where they belong: Moles Moles are small round creatures with long flat noses and five finger-like appendages on each small arm.
However, they are so tricky that you may not ever be able to spot them.
So look for the holes that they dig-they are usually tiny holes, and leave mounds of dirt strewn all over.
These mounds are usually a few inches high, and are shaped like miniature volcanoes.
There are traps to catch these creatures without killing them, in which case they can be relocated far away where they will no longer bother your garden.
However, there are other mole traps and poisons that will kill them outright, and guarantee that you will not have a continuing mole problem.
Gophers Gophers are very similar to moles in that they dig underground tunnels, leave mounds of dirt on your lawn, and can disrupt the root system of your plants, grass and trees.
They even look almost the same as moles; though they are usually a little longer, thinner and lighter colored, it is very difficult to tell them apart.
So again, look to their dirt mounds to tell which kind of pest it is.
Gopher mounds are less high, and are usually fan-shaped or horse-shoe shaped.
The ways to get rid of them are also similar-with traps or poison.
If you feel like mole and gopher traps and poison are inhumane, you can also apply something called a milky spore disease that will kill worms and other insects, which are your pests' food supply.
Once they no longer have food, they will leave your property alone.
However, most garden and lawn owners simply feel it is more convenient to buy the variety of mole and gopher traps available, to have your landscape looking beautiful again.
