Q. Do mosquitoes live in grass? And how do you get rid of them?

A. They sure do live in the grass, and in all other cool damp places. Mosquitoes can be controlled in your own area by spraying shrubs, grass, gutters, under lawn furniture, and wet spots with Methoxochlor, Diazinon, and flea and tick shampoo.

Q. We have small dogs that are being driven nuts by ticks. What’s safe to use around the dogs?

A. To begin with, dust the dog with the proper medication recommended by your vet. If the dog runs near shrubs and small tree areas spray those areas with Sevin, Diazinon, or Malathion.

Q. I would sure like to get rid of the ants that fly, crawl, and march around my yard and garden, but if I stop them in one place they show up in another. Is there a way?

A. Rent a roller with an attachment that has small spikes for making holes. Now add only enough weight to just make the points go into the ground. After rolling the whole lawn, water the lawn with one ounce of liquid dish detergent per gallon of water per 2500 square feet, and follow up with Diazinon.

Q. My grass gets more diseases than my kids did. Where do they come from and how do you get rid of them?


A. Plant diseases travel just like people diseases do—by hand, air, foot, and dirty tools. To cure, use plant fungicides. I find that a lawn fungicide called Fore at eight ounces per one thousand square feet of lawn does the job. That’s usually mixed in five to seven gallons of water.

Q. If you have both insects and lawn diseases, can you treat both of them at once?

A. Sure you can. That’s like asking if you can treat athlete’s foot and a sore throat at the, same time. To make sure that both garden medications work, punch many little holes in the infected areas, water, then apply one ounce of liquid dish detergent to fifteen gallons of water over the same area. Then apply the insect control, next the disease control, or wait three to five days in between.

Q. What can we do to stop the grass from dying where our dog does his duty?

A. Apply garden gypsum at fifty pounds per 2500 square feet in the fall and early spring.

Q. Is it true that moles come in your yard only if you have grubs in the lawn?

A. And skunks, too. The animals are really doing you a favor, because they’re alerting you to a problem. The two best garden chemicals to control lawn insects are in Dursban, Diazinon, and flea and tick shampoo.

Q. My son and his friends wash their cars in our drive and use soap. Won’t this kill our lawn and trees?

A. Heck, no! This will make them grow better. I wash my garden and lawn once a month—whether they need it or not—with one ounce of liquid soap to fifteen gallons of water.

Q. My husband changed the oil in our car and accidentally spilled almost all of it on the lawn. The grass is dead, and I was told nothing would ever grow there again. Could this be true?

A. No, this could not be true. Try to remove eight to ten inches of soil and replace. Spread garden gypsum at fifty pounds per one thousand square feet of oil spillage and reseed.

Q. I have a business office on a busy main street. All winter rock salt is scattered from county trucks. It kills my lawn and shrubs. Is there anything to take care of this?

A. Gypsum wins again. Fifty pounds per one thousand square feet in the fall and fifty pounds per 2500 square feet in the spring.

Q. Are Merion blue and Kentucky blue lawns fed the same way and with the same food?

A. They sure are. After all, they’re brothers. Feed in the spring and fall as recommended by the manufacturer, and then every third cutting. Set your lawn spreader on the lowest setting, and feed with any lawn food.

Q. I have a mixed-seed back lawn—Kentucky blue, red fescue, rye, and tall fescue—while my front lawn is Merion blue. I feed the back just as often as the front, but it looks worse. What’s wrong?

A. Fescue grasses do not like a lot of food. One feeding in the spring should do fine.