For home lawns with snow mould damage, it is best to rake the areas to encourage drying and to apply a light fertilizer application to speed recovery. Voles are another one of the pests which usually cause nuisance damage during the winter. Again, because of the long duration of snow cover there has been considerable damage from voles. To help the runways fill in, put down a light application of fertilizer in a week or two. One pest that is rearing its ugly head again this spring is the European chafer grub.
Grubs are up near the soil surface now.
With some of the warmer nights where there isn't frost in the ground, the raccoons and skunks have been foraging for the grubs. Starlings and other birds have also been pulling out tufts of grass in search of grubs. Overall, the incidence of grubs is down from the past two or three springs. This does, however, bring me to the topic of spring grub control. The traditional product that we have used for grub control, diazinon, is not recommended for use on grubs in the spring.