Battling Lawn Grubs - How
Do You Kill Lawn Grubs?

Tackle The Lawn Grub Menace Using 3
Effective Tips Get Rid Of Grubs In Your Lawn

You've fertilized.

You've aerated.

You've watered.

All that care and effort produced a lush, emerald green expanse of grass. Then you noticed brown spots in your otherwise well manicured turf. Which over time get bigger and bigger. Hate to tell you but these damaged areas are a sign your lawn is infested.

Infested? With what?

Likely culprit? Lawn grubs.

Likely source? Japanese beetles.

Lawn grubs are sneaky critters that attach themselves to the roots of your grass - their food source. Destroy the roots and you've destroyed your lawn. Hence the brown spots.

What can you do to tackle this subterranean menace?

How do you kill lawn grubs when the need arises?

How do go about controlling them?

Don't Over React
Though there are a number of ways to treat them, they are not problematic unless they are found in sufficient numbers. So a concentration of 4-5 grubs per square foot usually is no cause for alarm. There just aren't enough of them to do any serious damage so can be left alone.

But if you peel back a square foot of grass and find 10 or more, well now you're talking numbers that can be trouble. Especially vulnerable are lawns stressed by drought and so forth.

So what you should do if you find signs of pale colorless grass, turf loosened and brown patches spreading? Well, you've got a number of treatment alternatives for getting rid of the white soft bodied invaders depending on how "green" you want to be and how soon you want results.

Get Earthy
Among the less toxic methods is spreading diatomaceous earth in the soil to repel the blighters. The diatomaceous earth is the remains of algae which is pretty much harmless to birds and other animals. Still I'd put this more in the hope it works rather than know it works category.

Go Micro
A better option is to unleash some nematodes or microscopic worms to feed on young lawn grubs. Nematodes when released in soil seek out grubs, entering their bodies ultimately killing them. As these predators work best in moist soil water your lawn before releasing them, ideally early in the morning. You want to douse the nematodes in water as they need to migrate through the grass itself to get to those grubs. Available online or through mail order catalogs local garden stores may also have them in stock.

Go Even Smaller
Milky spore is another biological control for eliminating the grubs. The granules or dust is spread on the lawn.

When milky spore interacts with grubs, the grubs get sick and die. (This is also a good way to remove a food source for moles.) Just realize milky spore is more preventative than immediate as it can take maybe three years before the spores offer good control. But once established you're good for maybe 15-20 years. Works best in soil with a neutral pH.

Organic methods like nematodes and milky spore won't harm pets, kill worms or other beneficial organisms. Nor do they affect (read poison) the water supply. Which makes them two of the best green options available for killing grubs

Get Out the Gas Mask
For those into better living through chemicals, you can apply broad-spectrum pesticides like Dylox and Selvin to prevent large scale damage to your turf. Treating with chemicals like Imidercloprid are less harmful to the earth and works as a preventive measure too. Whatever you use should be watered in to the soil for best results.

Timing of application is important too. Some products control best if applied before the grub's summer egg laying cycle. Others should be applied during the Fall.

The drawback to pesticides is they are indiscriminate killers - taking out friend and foe alike. They can wipe out like up to 90% of the earthworms populating your lawn. Plus they can affect birds and other small animals that eat grubs. So I'd encourage you to use them only as a last resort.

How do you kill lawn grubs? Let me count the ways. Okay so maybe there not more ways than you would ever want to know, but this is certainly a good start.