Jan 28, 2022, 12:12 PM by Fred Speer

When it comes to protecting your home and family from unwanted pests, Clark, your friendly pest, termite, and rodent control expert, has always advocated a preventive approach. The same can be said of your home’s lawn, shrubs, and trees.

Winter is the ideal time to protect your lawn, landscape plants, and trees from harmful diseases and weeds so they will look their best this spring. It’s also the right time to create firebreaks around your home in advance of wildfire season this summer and fall.

Prevent crabgrass

Having a pre-emergent herbicide applied now to your lawn, and your shrub and flower beds, will prevent such weeds as annual grasses, clover, and dandelions from ruining the appearance of – and threatening the overall health of – your lawn and yard.

As ground temperatures warm over the next month, crabgrass – the number-one weed threatening California lawns - will germinate and take hold. Crabgrass is an annual grass that goes dormant in the fall and winter, but will spring back every year if left untreated.

With crabgrass, an ounce of prevention goes a long way. Making a preventive treatment now is a lot less hassle and more cost-effective than trying to remove it from your yard once it becomes established.

Signs of crabgrass

• Unlike typical lawn grass, crabgrass has an unattractive and mangled appearance.
• Crabgrass grows fast and tall, sprouting large patches above your current lawn.
• Because crabgrass is thicker and has a larger appearance, it is easily noticeable.

 

Applying a pre-emergent herbicide in combination with an application of winter fertilizer will help your lawn’s root system establish itself before the heat and dryness of summer arrives.

Regular watering – once a week is recommended – and mowing your grass shorter in the winter help it receive the moisture it needs. Doing this also will avoid excess buildup that can lead to harmful diseases.

Eliminate aphids

Another lawn-related pest that you need to be proactive about are aphids. These small, rapidly reproducing insects feed by sucking valuable nutrients from plants, which reduces their bloom and threatens their overall health.

Aphids secrete honeydew, a sticky, sweet substance that attracts ants and wasps. Honeydew finds it way on patio surfaces, outdoor furniture, and car windshields. If there is an abundance of rain, aphids will find more sources of food this spring, and could appear in greater numbers – thus attracting more pests.

Get the upper hand on aphids before there they damage foliage on trees and shrubs with a preventive soil injection treatment from Clark.

Create a defensible space

What is defensible space? It’s the buffer between your home and the grass, trees, shrubs, or any wildland area that surround it. This space is needed to slow or stop the spread of wildfire, and it’s designed to protect your home from catching fire, either from direct-flame contact or radiant heat. Creating defensible space is essential to improving your home’s chance of surviving a wildfire.

Proper management of the landscape and vegetation around your home through removal of dead plants, shrubs, and trees, as well as the application of pre-emergent herbicides to curb weed growth in the spring, will help establish a defensible space.

Grounds care solutions from Clark Pest Control

Taking preventive steps to promote good lawn health now will pay off later. Clark’s trained specialists will customize a weed control and lawn care program to reduce pest hiding spots and protect your lawn and plants. You can also add weed control and lawn fertilization services to your Year-Round Pest-Away® program to give you whole house protection.

Get your lawn, shrubs and trees ready for spring and summer by calling Clark Pest Control at (800) WE-NEED-YOU (936-3339), chatting with a Clark representative at clarkpest.com, or sending an email to clarkcares@clarkpest.com.

Until next time, the pest management professionals at Clark Pest Control thank you for helping to keep unwanted pests out of your home and yard.

Clark’s commitment to safety

Clark Pest Control remains committed to safeguarding your home from pests during these challenging times. Our service technicians use such personal protective equipment as gloves, masks, and respirators, they practice social distancing, and they adhere strictly to all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines when servicing inside or outside your home.