How To Have A Grub Proof Lawn Today

By Author: Steve Lum
Total Articles: 41
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If you are like most people, you want to have a beautiful lawn. After all, it is the first thing people will notice about your home. Unfortunately, a beautiful lawn is not always as easy to get as you might imagine. There are a number of different things that can and may go wrong with your lawn, one of the biggest is grubs. Learning a bit more about these pesky little lawn dweellers can help you prevent them.

Grubs are typically a white color with a darker head. If you happen to uncover them on your lawn, they’ll curl up into the shape of a C. Most grubs run in either a one or three year life cycle. Annual grubs begin their lives in mid to late summer, grow, and eat your lawn as summer dies out. Those with a three year life cycle take three years to completely develop, so damage to your lawn could occur in almost any season.

Grubs are actually the immature form of a type of beetle, like European chafers or Japanese beetles. They live in the soil so they can feed off of your plant’s roots, and it’s hard to even know you have them living on your lawn unless you actually see the damage.

The cycle usually ...
... starts in late June. The adults emerge from the ground and start looking for food and a mate. They can usually fly up to a mile, and they’ll feed on a number of different plants including roses and grapes. In just a month, the female beetles spend up to three weeks laying 60 different eggs in the soil. Those eggs hatch two weeks later, and the hatchlings, grubs, feed on grass roots. They’ll stay close to the surface, and they’re very vulnerable at that point. They molt into a second and third stage over the next few months, and as they grow, they consume more and more of your grass’ roots. You’re likely to see damaged turf at this point.

As the temperature gets cooler, they move further into the soil. In the spring, they move up again to feed for a short time, then emerge into beetles to complete the cycle.

Once your lawn is infested, you already have real problems. Prevention is the best bet. There are some methods that you may want to consider. First, you can let your lawn reach a stage of dormancy if the conditions become dry around you. The real problem with this method, though, is that you’re going to end up with bigger problems.

You could also monitor your lawn more carefully as late summer hits. If the grass starts to get off color, particularly if you’ve been watering it well, you’ll want to take a look at the root zone for small grubs.

Additionally, it may help to keep an eye on your neighbor’s lawn. If they’re having a problem, the chances are good that you’re going to as well. Once you notice a problem over there, starting a prevention program is your best bet.

You may want to get a professional lawn care service to help you control your grub problem if you’re worried.

Article Source: Slug-A-Bug