Question
QUESTION:
"Last year my normally beautiful lawn developed a funny color and was very thin.  I noticed small bumps of dirt, similar to an ant mound, only no holes in the tops of them, they are very small and have been multiplying and I dont know if that has anything to do with the looks of the grass.  I can find no insects when I poke around in the tiny bumps but before they showed up, my lawn was beautiful and said to be the best looking on our street.  It is only affecting a small area of the whole yard, unfortunatly its the front yard. There are no raised areas between them and they are very close together and very far apart.   Help  what could be the problem?"

ANSWER: Hi Cheryl;
That is a new one to me.
It could be some kind of burrowing animal.
I have never had to deal with moles and gophers, so I don't really know what the mound or hole looks like.
If it is an animal like that, making garlic tea and saturating the ground a few inches deep to get the cayenne and garlic down to where the animal is should chase it away.
If I were you, I would dig up one of the holes, keepinmg the soil intack so you can take it to a nurseryman and ask what it is.
the funny color could be a lot of things.
What color?
Very light green to a yellow usually means a lack of a mineral, usually iron, but it could be a couple of others.
Is there an open space under these holes, or is it just a mound of dirt?
Need more information, before I can know what to search for to help you.
Charlotte

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: The holes are smaller than a mole or gopher could make, more the size of ant hills.  They look like when the frost comes out of the ground in the spring, only they started last fall.  I have poked in them, and found nothing.  My lawn color is usually a very dark green and turned light green and got very thin, not grubs either, different.  I hope this helps.  I will most certainly try to take a hill to a nursery for advice.  Thank you for your help.

Answer
I have cicadas in my lawn, or used to. the hole is about a half inch in diameter, but I haven't noticed a bump around them.
If that is what it is, they won't hurt the grass, and you wouldn't find any by poking in the hole. They go down very deep.
The very light green sounds like a need for nourishment.
It is probably iron it needs.
Adding iron will green up the grass.
Charlotte