This week in the garden, if you have dead spotty areas in the lawn, try pulling the grass up. If it comes up like a carpet, then dig around to see if you have any grubs. They will be large white worms with brown heads. They are eating the roots of the grass on the lawn. Now is not the time to treat since they are going downward to overwinter. The best time to treat is earlier in the summer when you see June bugs flying around (the adult form of the grub) laying eggs in the lawn.
Water your lawn well into fall until the cold night temperatures shut down the growth. You can think about putting on winter fertilizer then. Do not fertilize any perennials or woody plants because we want them to stop growth.
Before bringing your outdoor containers and houseplants back into the home, hose off the leaves, especially the undersides. This helps by bringing in aphids and white flies. Do this several times. Also, check and clean the saucer, certain bugs live in the saucers. Do not fertilize and transition to the house by bringing the plants into shady areas before bringing them into the house.
As we cool down next week, it is time to spray for those broadleaf weeds like dandelions and creeping Jenny. Use a 2,4-D type of herbicide. You may have to hit them again in 4 weeks.
The insect of the week goes to the boxelder bug. These bugs are attracted to boxelder trees and other maples along with ash trees. Since they overwinter as adults, you may find them wanting to share your house with them. They lay wait on the warm southern side of the buildings looking for areas to get in. You do not want to squish them because they are related to the stink bug and will leave a brown residue. Barrier sprays will work somewhat as vacuuming them up inside and tossing back outdoors. They do suck on leaf sap, however, their numbers are not great to cause any damage this time of year.