Garden & Yard Issues

All Garden & Yard Issues Content

Large patch of grab grass growing on lawn.

Is Crabgrass Taking Over Your Lawn?

Each year homeowners and businesses typically find crabgrass invading their lawns. If you desire a nice lawn, you may not be happy about this. Crabgrass can be a bit tricky to control—especially after it has established itself for the season.

Small cluster of dandelions among fallen leaves on a lawn.

Fall Weed Control in Lawns

In lawns, fall is the best time to chemically control broadleaf perennial weeds. Examples of these weeds could include dandelions, Canada thistle, creeping bellflower, field bindweed and ground ivy.

A picture of a lawn showing a ring of dark green grass in the middle of the lawn due to fungi in the soil.

Fairy Rings in Lawns

Seeing greener grass in circular pattern in your lawn? This is not due to uneven fertilizer application, but rather due to a fungi feeding on decomposing matter and releasing nitrogen in the affected areas.

A pair of hands transplanting a tomato seedling in a black, plastic pot.

Promoting Safe Community Gardening Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

October 20, 2021

SDSU Extension experts have established guidelines for community gardens to follow in order to promote the health and safety of local gardeners during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Elongate, reddish-brown beetle on a white background.

Foreign Grain Beetles in New Construction

As new homes are constructed around South Dakota, we continually receive questions about small, brown insects showing up in bathrooms and basements. These insects are foreign grain beetles.

Mosquito resting on a dandelion seed head.

West Nile Virus Update: Sept. 17, 2021

The South Dakota Department of Health's latest update indicated that West-Nile-virus-positive mosquitoes were detected in Beadle, Brookings, Brown, Codington, Hand, Hughes, Lincoln and Minnehaha counties in South Dakota.

Orange beetle with black markings on an orange flower.

Soldier Beetles Visiting Flowers

Flowers in many gardens are currently being visited by soldier beetles. While these orange beetles have a strong preference for flowering plants, they are predators and pollinators and don’t pose a threat to your garden.

Left: Picnic beetle adults feeding on a damaged tomato. Right: Multicolored Asian lady beetle adults infesting an apple.

Picnic Beetles and Multicolored Asian Ladybeetles Bothering Produce

Ripe fruit that has been injured can attract undesirable insects into your garden. Some of these insects will feed on the produce, which can completely ruin it by increasing the rate of decay and make it unappealing.

Seven millipedes, some curled up, on a white background with a quarter for scale.

Millipedes in Yards and Homes

During late summer and early fall, millipedes are typically a hot topic as they are observed moving into homes, sheds and other outbuildings. When found indoors, they are considered accidental entrants, as they are not able to reproduce indoors and will eventually die.

Green and brown grasshopper with two yellow lines that originate on the head and meet on the abdomen.

Grasshoppers in Gardens

Due to large populations and dry conditions, grasshoppers are moving into gardens and feeding on whatever they can find. In a normal year, grasshoppers can be a nuisance in a garden, but during an outbreak year, they can present a real threat to gardens, shrubs and small trees.