Leonard Bartlett
Imagine you bought a new house and started tidying up the yard. You have planted wonderful new plants as well as thick green grass and one morning you wake up and see a lot of dug holes all over your lawn. Who wouldn’t go crazy to see such a scene? A neat lawn takes a lot of money but also time to look perfect, so you certainly don't want all your efforts to fail because of an animal.
While there are some species of animals that could help the ecosystem by burying themselves in the lawn, we still see most of them as pests that leave a mess behind. This problem most often occurs in early spring, when animals are looking for a place to hide. When a problem arises, we must find out why it happened, and then we can take measures to prevent a recurrence of the same.
Why do animals dig the lawn
The main reason why animals do harm and dig up our lawns is that they are looking for food. It's often the case that they bury food in the lawn and keep coming back for it causing an even bigger mess in your garden. The search for food isn’t the only reason, animals can also dig a lawn to hide their young in it or make a nest for themselves. They need a safe place to give birth.
Are the reasons for digging lawns grubs
Fun fact: Per one square foot of your lawn you can find at least five grubs! Therefore, we see that any lawn, even the well-groomed and healthy one, can attract animals that feed with grubs. When the animal has found food on the lawn, it will come again with the same goal. You need to take a good look at your lawn and try to spot if you have a problem with an excessive amount of grubs in it. You can easily recognize them. If you notice brown or yellow grass that is dying off, you probably have a problem with grubs. Since grubs live underground, they destroy the root of the grass leading to its drying out.
How to get rid of grubs
Spray the lawn
Buy a liquid-based detergent. Mix 4 tablespoons of this detergent with a gallon of water and spray it on the lawn. Also, spray on grass that is still green and not just yellow/brown. When the lawn gets wet, grubs will start coming out of it. If grubs still appear after this procedure, repeat the method.
Add nematodes
Once you have successfully got rid of the bigger amount of grubs, add nematodes to your lawn. Nematodes enter the bodies of grubs and release bacteria that will kill them. This is a great, natural way to get rid of grubs.
Don't water the lawn
Like any larva, grubs develop from eggs so they need plenty of water to develop. Try not to water the lawn for a month, especially over the summer, this should also lead to the prevention of their reproduction.
Is there any method of pest repellent
Gardeners are very creative when it comes to protecting and improving the garden. They most commonly use coffee grounds or garlic powder to defend their lawn from pests. Animals, like moles, make tunnels and when you notice tunnels, you can sprinkle coffee grounds or garlic powder around them. In addition to these homemade items, various products are designed just to repel rodents that dig holes in the lawn so you can try some of them as well.
Most of them are based on castor oil so there is no danger of harming children or pets. You can drive rodents off the lawn using sound spikes. Their frequencies won't bother the human ear but animals certainly will. However, this is a temporary method because it will scare the animals at first and when they get used to the sound later, it will no longer prevent them from digging.
Will building a barrier help
Of course, it will! The animals you want to get rid of can dig underground and make tunnels in the ground so to prevent them, you have to put a fence underground. The fence needs to be at least three feet under the ground and around 20 inches above the ground to be effective. Digging a fence is a difficult job that can take a long time, but keep in mind that of all the above methods, this one is the most effective.
Make a trap
Make traps and place them all over the yard to have the best chance of catching unwanted visitors. Place food in the traps that will serve as bait and it’s desirable that the food has a strong and intense smell. Check the traps at least once a day, preferably in the morning. This isn’t the most effective method, but it is worth a try.
Keep the yard clean
Get rid of anything that might attract animals to your yard. If you have a tree or a fruit tree, the fruit that falls from it shouldn't remain on the ground. Just imagine how strong the smell of a withered apple is, of course, that smell will attract pests. So clean the yard and throw away unnecessary fruit.
Fix the holes
Once you get rid of the animals that dug the holes, you need to bury the holes to make the lawn look nice again. Buy the soil and pour it into the holes and later use a shovel to level everything. If the holes are made near the house, check to see if the animals have damaged the structure of your home.
Conclusion
To get rid of holes in the lawn, you simply must get rid of the pests that produce them. As long as there is something in your yard that attracts rodents, they will show up and dig your lawn. Some methods are really effective while others you will have to combine to achieve what you want and that's a beautiful and flat lawn for sure!
