The black cutworm, Agrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel), damages various cultivated crops and it can also be a serious pest of turfgrass, especially on golf courses. Essential oils have potential as alternative control agents for insect pests. Sixteen essential oils (anise, camphor, cinnamon, citronella, clove, fennel, geranium, lavender, lemongrass, linseed, neem, peppermint, pine, thyme, turpentine and tea saponin) and paraffin oil were assessed in the laboratory, the green house and field trials for their efficacy against black cutworms in turf. Treatment of potted cores of perennial ryegrass turf with anise, cinnamon, neem, paraffin or turpentine reduced black cutworm damage in a greenhouse trial, and in a similar trial, applying neem oil at 4000, 2000 and 1000 ppm resulted in 100, 100 and 64% mortality, respectively, of black cutworms. Weight of survivors at the 1000 ppm rate was 5- fold less than weight of comparably-aged controls. Neem oil (2000 ppm) reduced growth of black cutworms feeding on treated clippings. A high rate of neem oil followed by irrigation (0.1 L of 20000 ppm neem oil with 0.9 L watering/$m^2$) was more effective than a lower concentration (1 L of 2000 ppm neem oil/$m^2$) against $2^{nd}$ and $3^{rd}$ instars in potted turf cores and field plots, respectively. However, not even the aforementioned higher rate effectively controlled $4^{th}$ instars in the field.