Strengthening the Good

Wow. A lot of our back lawn is in bad shape. We have patches of brown....I have been working for several weeks to green it up. The usual applications of water and fertilizer haven't had any effect. When I inspected the affected areas, I noticed little insects that sort of hop or fly close to the ground, and webs here and there. It looks like we have an infestation of webworms, the pests that eat grass roots. I am waiting to see if a massive application of lawn pest control gets rid of them and then I can encourage the grass to revive. What I noticed about this is that we don't have any of the brown patches near the house, where the grass is sheltered from the sun for most of the day and the water it receives is enough to keep it strong and thick. Whether the bugs prefer drier soil, or the grass in the moister soil can withstand the bugs, the message is pretty clear: if I had been more diligent about watering my grass earlier in the season, I wouldn't have this problem. Another trouble is that where the grass has turned brown, weeds are trying to take over. More work, and chemicals....So much trouble caused by not taking care of the grass.