SOLUTION. Hampton Roads seems to be a mole haven. Almost overnight the pesky creatures can tear up a lawn, burrowing through tunnels under the turf in search of their favorite food, grub worms.

Sometimes moles are just passing through in search of food, and your lawn may not, in fact, have enough grub worms to make them take up long-term residence. You know you have an infestation of grub worms if your lawn appears burned and you can lift up the grass and see the culprits. The turf will be loose and lift up like a piece of carpet.

Grubs chew away at the roots of your grass; they have fat, whitish bodies, 3/4 to 1 1/2 inches long and may be the larvae of one of several beetles, including the Japanese beetle.

Milky Spore, a natural bacteria that's applied as a powder in a grid form, is the long-lasting solution. It takes several months, maybe even a year or more, for the grub worms to ingest the bacteria, which kills them because it messes up their digestive system. But Milky Spore will be effective for 10 to 15 years, say local horticulturists.

So what do you do in the mean time? Spray lots of castor-oil based mole repellent. Mole Med and Mole Go are 60 percent to 70 percent castor oil, and there is a new 100 percent castor-oil spray called Scoot Mole. It comes in a plastic container that's a hose-end sprayer and people who have used it are reporting satisfying results. Scoot Mole is just making its way into the Hampton Roads market, says the company's sale manager.

You can apply diazinon to the lawn to kill grub worms, but the chemical also kills good-guy earthworms and can be toxic to birds and other wildlife.

Other remedies suggested in various pest-control books include: spring-loaded mole traps; well-used cat litter, tobacco or red pepper dumped into the mole's burrow; vibrating windmills; and even ``rodent rocks,'' which are porous lava stones that have been soaked in organic repellent containing onions and garlic.

There are other methods we've heard of but can't substantiate. Supposedly, if you put sticks of fruit or spearmint gum into the burrows, the mole will eat the gum and die from the sticky mess clogging up his digestive system. Some people say they have killed them by hooking up a hose to the lawn mower exhaust and gassing them.

PROBLEM. Being new to this whole gardening experience, what exactly is nutsedge? What does it look like? - K. Holland, Suffolk

SOLUTION. This is a weed that's hard to get rid of once you get it in your lawn. Also called ``nut grass,'' the weed has small underground tubers that look like potatoes. The leaves are smooth and taper to a sharp point; the stem is triangular in shape. Scientists are actually trying to enlarge the tuber to cultivate it as a food source. The tuber stores nutrients; if any tuber is left in the ground after the rest of the plant has been removed, the plant can regrow.