They say nothing ruins a picnic like ants. And nothing ruins a lush, green landscape like swarms of insects and hordes of burrowing animals. With spring in full bloom, now is the time for co-op and condo association landscape crews to start scouting the greenery to find problems before they escalate.

All too often, what looks like an insignificant blemish—perhaps one dead shrub or a yellow patch of grass—can be a precursor to bigger problems that can turn an inviting lawn or tree line into a sickly, spindly ghost of its former self.

On the bright side, sharp-eyed landscape and maintenance crews can usually spot disaster before it strikes. Just like a parent with a sick child, crews who have tended a landscape for at least a few summers will know the difference between healthy looking greens and areas that just seem off. Symptoms must be recognized in their early stages for treatments to be most effective and least invasive.

If there is uncertainty, the best course of action is always to check with the experts. A five-minute visit with a professional who can explain the difference between lace bugs and canker worms can save a lot of trouble down the road.

The Early Bird Gets the Scary Worms…

Here in the northeast, growers catch a break each winter when most insect species go dormant. It's when they emerge from their winter hibernation that they begin causing trouble, feeding and burrowing and making life miserable for growers and lawn caretakers all along the East Coast.

"The most important factor in insect and pest control is to understand the life cycle of the pest you are treating," says Howard Goldberg, ornamental horticulturist for Millamar Landscape Services in Jackson Heights in Queens. "This way you know when the problem is most susceptible to treatment. Insects are dormant in the cooler months and usually hatch and feed in the warmer months. Therefore, the best way to prevent damage to the ornamental landscape is to kill the eggs and dormant pests."

Rob Kopf of DuBrow's Nurseries, Inc. in Livingston agrees, adding, "Insects can be depended on to appear during specific seasonal windows. Though the majority of insect damage occurs during the growing season, some insects do remain on plants over the winter as adults." Those insects include lace bugs and mites.

Millamar's and other professional horticulture and landscape firms use a process called Integrated Pesticide Management (IPM), which examines landscapes on a regular basis throughout the year. "The IPM technician will look for insects and disease based on the temperature and time of the month," Goldberg says.

Know the Enemy

Anyone who has ever spent time digging through a garden knows that seemingly hundreds of different creatures lurk beneath the soil. That means there are a wide variety of pests that can cause problems for New Jersey HOAs.

"Insects can be divided into two basic groups—chewing and sucking—according to the way in which they feed on the host plant," says Kopf. "Chewing insects cause the most visible damage by eating plant leaves."

Japanese beetles, for example, will devour entire leaf surfaces, leaving only the ribs. Sawflies feeding on pine trees eat the whole needle, leaving only stubs and droppings behind. In lawns, white grubs feed on roots while sod webworms devour grass blades, Kopf says.

"The damage caused by sucking insects is subtler," he adds. "It can range from a mottled appearance from lace bug feeding to the curled leaves on boxwoods caused by the boxwood psyllid."

Within those two categories of chewing and sucking insects, the list of common pests found on co-op or condo grounds is extensive.

"Insects common to the New Jersey area as varied as the landscape that has been installed," Kopf says. "Each annual, perennial, shrub, ornamental or shade tree is sought out by insects specific to each plant species. Lace bugs are common pests on azalea and andromeda. Woolly adelgid are found exclusively on eastern hemlock, and redheaded sawfly larvae are only on two-needled pines. Name a plant, and there are insects particular to that plant."

For lawns, some of the most common troublemakers include grubs, cicada killers and moles, says Stuart Aust, founder and president of The Bug Doctor in Paramus, "Grubs can really ruin lawns," he says. "It looks like a person going bald really quickly. The grass just clumps up from all the feeding the grubs are doing on the roots."

Nature provides an ideal, telltale sign to determine if grubs are indeed the source of the problem. "When a lawn gets grubs, you get a lot of skunks," Aust says. "You'll see circular holes that seem to go nowhere. The skunks dig down an inch or two, poking around and searching for grubs."

In lawns, Kopf explains, insects known as chinch bugs suck the fluids out of grass, leaving behind dry, brown turf that is often mistaken for the result of drought damage.

A truly creepy-sounding insect called a cicada killer is a big problem in the metro area. According to Aust, the creature "is basically an oversized wasp." It bores holes into the ground, creating mini-mounds in the lawn from which the cicada killers emerge. Their aim is to sting and paralyze—not kill, mind you—cicadas in the trees overhead, then fly with the cicada and put it in the mound. The female cicada killer will then lay eggs next to the cicada. When the eggs hatch, the young cicada killers eat the paralyzed cicada alive. Beyond the gross-out factor, these critters can completely destroy the look of a lawn with their gruesome mounds.

One other pest that poses more of a danger to people perhaps than their lawns is the tick. "Ticks are a real problem," Aust says. Pets and humans are susceptible to Lyme disease spread by the ticks. "It's very debilitating and very serious."

Pests aren't necessarily limited to insects and their multi-legged cousins. Mammals do their part as well. One creature that does its best to disrupt the smooth, sleek look of a landscape is the common mole. By tunneling underground looking for food, they destroy the root system of the grass, causing the turf to die off.

Safer Solutions

Luckily, today's horticulturists and landscapers have a wealth of weapons at hand to fight these destructive pests. According to Goldberg, during the dormant months and even in the growth season, "horticultural oil or horticultural soap will suffocate the eggs and insects." Environmentally-friendly and made from natural ingredients, he says that "these treatments are the safest and most effective way to prevent problems on trees and shrubs."

Goldberg also lists the use of natural predators—insects that eat other insects—as an effective and safe problem solving method in addition to insect growth regulators and mating disruption substances such as pheromones. "The use of biological [versus chemical] pesticides is an important component of IPM," Goldberg says.

Harsh chemical eradicators are becoming less common, Kopf agrees. "The chemicals in use today bear little resemblance to those of the past. The EPA is reviewing all chemicals in use and has eliminated many of the old classes of pesticides. [They've] been replaced with more targeted, specific ones that leave a much smaller footprint on the environment."

Knowing about a problem before it springs out of control is a huge help to industry professionals as well. "We've benefited from our new age of information with a variety of online publications and university extension services," Kopf says. "The information provided allows commercial applicators to prepare for insects in advance of their appearance and provides alerts for any new insects."

When it comes time to fix a bug problem, it is always best to call in the professionals. "The first step in any pesticide control effort is hiring a state certified pesticide applicator," Kopf says. "A close relationship with your service provider will make everyone's job easier."

If chemicals are going to be used, it is important to let residents know ahead of time. Send notices out a week or so ahead of time. "I always like to overdo it rather than under-do it," Aust says.

And different treatments require different precautions, he adds. "If we're doing a granular treatment, people can go outside right after it's done. For a power spray, we ask people to keep their windows closed for a certain amount of time."

Let the Professionals Help

Residents and staff maintenance crews also must resist the temptation to attempt do-it-yourself solutions to bug problems. Aust tells tales of fires and other near-carnage that ensued when people try to use home remedies and creative actions to solve their insect issues. Aust says that condo owners should enjoy the fact that they are living in a condo community where professionals can take care of their lawn and landscape for them. "Take advantage of that," he says, "and don't try to fix things yourself."

Landscape crews, however, should enlist residents in the fight against pest problems by asking them to report suspicious symptoms in their lawns, trees or shrubs, Aust says. "People shouldn't be afraid to let their property manager know if something looks weird." Residents also should do their best not to encourage problems with pests by refraining from leaving food and seed out for animals and birds.

The best way to enjoy a pest-free spring and summer is simply to keep an eye open for problems and tackle them as soon as they arise. Staying on top of potential problems will save a lot of effort later and ensure that everyone can enjoy a beautiful landscape throughout the year.

Liz Lent is a freelance writer and a frequent contributor to The New Jersey Cooperator.