Winter Garden homeowners keep their yard lush and green through the dry season with the right irrigation system. Also, this system can keep landscaping healthy, and add curb appeal to a home. But lawn irrigation can transform your yard into a moist environment that can attract many pests. That is why you must understand what’s happening in your yard when irrigation functions. This way, you can hire Avata Pest in Winter Garden to help address a potential pest infestation that resulted from the irrigation system.
Irrigation Creates an Artificial Wet Season
The rainy season in Central Florida runs from June through September, and the dry season spans the remaining months. Pest populations have adapted to this cycle over thousands of years. Many species time their reproduction and activity around moisture availability.
Running an irrigation system year-round can eliminate this dry season from your yard’s microclimate. The reason is that it keeps the soil moist and the grass dense. A well-irrigated Winter Garden lawn in February can look a lot like a yard in the middle of a summer rainstorm.
Subterranean Termites Follow the Moisture
Subterranean termites live in the ground, build mud tubes to travel above the soil line, and need consistent moisture to survive. Dry soil limits their movement, while wet soil is an open highway for them.
Irrigation systems that water close to a home’s foundation keep the soil adjacent to your structure in a near-permanent state of moisture. This is where subterranean termite colonies want to be. They are drawn to warm, wet soil next to wood framing, door frames, or wooden fence posts.
Overwatered landscaping beds also produce wood rot in mulch, tree roots, and decorative timber borders. Rotting wood is softer and easier for termites to penetrate, which makes an already attractive environment even more accessible.
Moisture-Loving Insects Move In
A wet lawn draws a wide range of pests that either breed in moist soil or feed on the organisms that thrive there. Chinch bugs and grubs are common lawn pests in Central Florida that prefer moist soil conditions for egg deposition and development. Fire ants are more likely to establish colonies in irrigated turf than in dry, compacted ground. Fungus gnats breed in wet soil and can become a nuisance outdoors and inside homes when potted plants get overwatered.
Mosquitoes also benefit from such conditions. Irrigation systems that leave puddles, water ornamental plant saucers, or create low spots where water collects give these insects the standing water they need to breed close to your home.
Rodents Are Attracted to What Moisture Grows
Dense, healthy turf provides ground cover that mice and rats use for protection from predators. Irrigated landscaping beds support lush vegetation that offers shelter and food sources to these pests. Fruit trees and vegetable gardens that thrive because of a well-maintained irrigation system can become reliable food destinations for rats and mice.
Roof rats are drawn to yards with mature, well-watered vegetation. They nest in dense shrubs and travel along irrigation pipe trenches close to the soil surface. They feed on the fruit and seeds that healthy, irrigated plants produce.
The Timing and Volume of Watering are Important
Watering late at night or in the early morning hours allows the soil and grass surface to stay wet through the coolest part of the day. Moisture evaporates more slowly in cool temperatures, which extends the window during which pests can take advantage of wet conditions.
Overwatering makes the issue worse. Many irrigation systems in Winter Garden run on schedules that were programmed during installation and never adjusted for seasonal rainfall. During the rainy season, a system that continues to run on its dry-season schedule saturates the soil beyond what the lawn needs. This excess moisture percolates down and raises the moisture level of the soil throughout the root zone, creating ideal conditions for subterranean pests.