Lawn and landscape problems we treat

These are the problems we treat in warm-season lawns and landscapes across Irmo, Chapin, Lexington, Prosperity, Gilbert, West Columbia, Harbison and Cayce. Each page covers how to recognize the problem, why it's hard to beat, where do-it-yourself treatment goes wrong, and when it gets treated in the Midlands.

Weeds

• Dallisgrass: a clumping perennial grass that takes more than one season to control
• Crabgrass: an annual grass where pre-emergent timing matters most
• Doveweed: a grass-like summer weed that loves wet soil
• Nutsedge: a sedge that regrows from underground tubers
• Virginia buttonweed: a perennial that spreads by rhizomes and mowed stem pieces and thrives in wet soil

Lawn insects

• Chinch bugs: damage that looks like drought, worst on St. Augustine
• Mole crickets: tunneling insects best treated in June and July
• Fire ants: why the two-step bait method beats treating mounds

Lawn disease

• Large patch, spring dead spot and leaf diseases: fall is the key window

Trees and shrubs

• Insects on shrubs and trees: tea scale, azalea lace bug, crape myrtle bark scale, whiteflies, aphids and bagworms
• Leaf spot and mildew: Entomosporium on photinia and Indian hawthorn, powdery mildew and Cercospora on crape myrtle

Growing conditions

• Thin or bare lawns: finding the cause, and why warm-season lawns fill in by spreading
• Wet areas and poor drainage: the weeds, disease, moss and algae that come with soggy soil
• Shade: which grasses tolerate it and when to stop fighting it
• New sod: watering, fertilizer and when weed control is safe
• New shrubs and trees: water first, fertilize only if the soil needs it

Where does this information come from?

The timing and identification on these pages follow Clemson Cooperative Extension's Home & Garden Information Center, which publishes guidance for South Carolina lawns and landscapes. Where Clemson has no page on a topic, we use NC State or University of Georgia Extension and say so. Each page lists its sources at the bottom. For grass-by-grass care, see zoysia, bermuda, centipede and St. Augustine in the Midlands.

Last updated 2026-09-25. Spring Green is owned by Stockton Wells.