Grubs are the larvae of beetles that aggressively feed on and destroy your lawn. They are white, C-shaped larvae which are the developmental state of the beetle. These pests are found in the soil below the thatch layer of your lawn and feed on the roots of grass plants. Left untreated, grubs can cause considerable damage and total replacement of the lawn is often necessary.

The first step is to understand the life cycle of the Japanese Beetle. Other turf damaging grub species are fro the European chafer, asiatic garden beetle, and the oriental beetle. Life cycles of each are similar.

Let's start at the beginning. The female Japanese Beetle, after feasting on your shrubs and rose bushes all summer, then lays her eggs into warm full sun areas of healthy grass from August to September. She won't lay her eggs in the shade since soil temperatures are too low to keep the eggs alive. Each female is capable of laying a couple of hundred eggs. These eggs will all hatch within four days after they’re laid. There are no grubs hatching in the spring-spring grubs have wintered over and survived from last FALL. They ALL hatch in late August or September.

After the grubs emerge from their eggs in late summer, they must eat and what they eat are the roots of your lawn. They eat until they are the size that you are familiar seeing them when you find them in your garden while you're planting.

As the soil's temperature drops in the fall the grubs must burrow down below the frost line to avoid being frozen over winter. Naturally, there is nothing for them to eat down that deep in the soil so, so they develop a healthy appetite when they make it back to the root level.

Finally in spring, the soil's temperature begins to rise and the grubs will burrow their way back to the root zone of your lawn. Now the feast begins all over again. After putting on another round of body fat (compliments of your lawn) they pause and pupate; that is: they form a hard shell and begin the transformation into the adult or beetle stage of their life. They will enter this pupae stage during Early to mid-June. In mid-July the beetles emerge from the soil and the cycle begins again.

If you've been paying attention, you've realized that by the time you get out there in spring with your grub killer three quarters of the damage the grubs cause has already occurred. This is a classic case of closing the barn doors after the horses have run off.

The best time to wipe them out is during the hatching period in late August or early September. If you have a severe grub problem in the spring, you may need to treat with a quick acting pesticide for those winter-over grubs to save your lawn from extinction. Don’t guess when that window is open or not-hire professionals!

If you find that you need to apply a grub control as an emergency measure in spring, you should call your Greener Lawn professionals to put down a product that kills quickly and on contact. It breaks down quickly with no residual once it's killed the grubs but, since there are no new grubs hatching in spring, it is of no concern. As with all grub controls, it is imperative that it gets watered-in with at least an inch of water IMMEDIATELY after application. DON'T COUNT ON RAIN TO DO THE JOB! Rainfall is usually not enough to get the chemical off the surface of the soil and down to the roots where the grubs are. You must realize that the chemical begins to break down as soon as it's out of the bag. Sunlight and soil microbes both begin to strip the chemical of its potency the instant its out of the bag. Left on the surface of the soil, it will lose about 33% of its potency every 24 hours. As soon as you get home and see the Greener Lawn Sign out on your lawn, get the sprinkler out or turn on your irrigation system and soak the area with an inch of water. Use a tuna or cat food can to measure that inch of water.

Season Long Grub Control-Let us take the work and worry out of your lawn care program!
Once you get the grubs taken care of, you should sign for our grub program that will give you our Season Long Grub Control. We will apply our Season Long Grub Control as early as May and as late as late July, and it will still be effective enough in August/September to kill over 80% of the grubs that hatch then. AGAIN, WATER IT IN.

The reason Season Long Grub Control needs to be applied so early is that it needs some lead time to get absorbed into the roots of the grass where it remains waiting for the grubs. As soon as the grubs hatch they begin to eat the roots of the grass. POW! They die. That's the beauty of Season Long Grub Control. It can't miss since it's in the food (roots) that grubs eat. Properly applied and watered-in, Season Long Grub Control will kill 98% of the grubs that hatch. No need to lose your lawn…no need to treat again in spring either.

Call on Greener Lawns to address your Grub Control issues.
Contact Greener Lawns to Request a Quote or call 978-470-3111