What are those tiny bugs in my lawn? Do They are teeny tiny red, green, orange or brown bugs most people never notice. They are as small as a grain of sand. Every yard has a few of them so do not be worried if you see a handful at your home.
Lawn Mites cause serious problems when they reach infestation stage like some of the pictures below show. Because of Colorado’s dry winters, lawn mites thrive in warm, dry conditions, and cause damage while grass is dormant. Damage won’t be evident until irrigation is turned on and sections of lawn do not green up. Mites tend to prefer south or west facing lawns, especially sloped areas, since they tend to be warmer and drier. Mites prefer edges of grass (along driveways and sidewalks) which we call hot spots since the edges tend to be warmer.
You can also monitor and check your lawn and water from your spigot during winter to keep your lawn from suffering drought damage, desiccation, and keep lawn mites from getting to infestation stages. A customer had lawn mite infestation 3 years in a row, the 4th year they did not require any insect control application – the difference was they watered during dormant months every 2 weeks to keep their West and South facing lawn from getting too dry and stopped the mites from reaching damaging levels.
A quick tip, is to take a piece of paper or card stock and swipe it over the grass in that area. If it is streaked with tiny red, brown orange or green dots, you have lawn mites and will need to get it treated.
Here is a short video of how to swipe for mites. https://www.facebook.com/myecoturf/videos/313623132895201
We also offer soil testing and lawn mite checks during the dormant months as one of our services to our lawn fertilization package customers.
