I Need Help With Grubs That Are Killing My Grass
- June, Oriental, European, northern masked and May beetles lay eggs within lawns during the midsummer months. They lay these eggs generally in the sunniest areas of the yard. Gardeners may notice beetles flying around their gardens, or their ornamental plants being damaged by beetles. Grubs emerge at the end of the summer and eat the root systems of grass. You may see damage extend to the early fall or right before temperatures dip.
- Gardeners may notice browning grass blades. Patches or small areas of the lawn may die out from grub damage. The number of grubs in the yard dictates the best treatment option. For example, you don't want to use a pesticide that can kill beneficial insects if there are only a few grubs in the yard. Dig a 1-square-foot area of lawn. Count the number of grubs within the soil and turf. If there are more than eight grubs per square foot, treat the yard with pesticide, as recommended by the University of Rhode Island. Less than eight grubs per square foot may mean that you can have success with using cultural management.
- Drying out the grass during July an August can help control your white grub population, according to Pennsylvania State University. Eggs may dry up and die if gardeners stop irrigating their lawns. However, frequent rainfall can throw a monkey wrench into this type of control method. Furthermore, gardeners can renovate their lawns and reseed with a warm season grass type, as suggested by the University of California. Warm season grass types such as St. Augustine, Bermuda, zoysia and buffalo grass can withstand white grub injury better than cool season grass types.
- Apply an insecticide to the yard in the fall, because spring treatment is less effective. Grubs in the spring have already fed on grass roots and are harder to treat. Use an insecticide between August 1 to September 15th, as recommended by the university of Rhode Island. Both imidacloprid and halofenozide insecticide types can be used to control fall larvae. Irrigate the lawn after applying your fall insecticide.