Just like an insurance plan, preventative grub control is all about protecting your lawn. It is important to understand a grubs life cycle and know the sort of damage they can cause if left untreated.
What are Grubs? 🐛
Grubs are the larvae that are laid and hatched from beetles. The most common beetles to lay their eggs in the lawns surrounding Des Moines and Central Iowa are Japanese Beetles and June Bugs. Both of these beetles become very active in the middle part of Summer, around June, and can be found around your home. This is the time when two things will occur.
The Japanese Beetle and June Bug will already have some grubs existing in the lawn that will hatch and feed on ornamental leaves, mating and later laying eggs in the lawn at the end of Summer. At the same time, new beetles can come into the area and lay their eggs as well. It’s important to understand that any grubs already existing in the lawn prior to the middle of Summer are grubs that are ready to grow into a beetle, and don’t require feeding on the lawn in order to leave the lawn as a full grown beetle.
What is the life cycle of a Grub? 📅
When adult beetles emerge from your lawn in late May or June, you will start to notice them around lights at night, on your ornamental plants, around pool skimmers and in other places as well. At this point in the Summer, beetles will mate and lay their eggs in healthy lawns. In order for the grub to grow to an adult beetle, they need healthy roots to feed on. Eggs will hatch weeks later, and young grubs begin feeding rapidly on your lawns roots, causing it to die.
As shown in the diagram above, you can see the life cycle of a common white grub. Our goal is to interrupt this life cycle at the most opportune time. Grubs that are left without any treatment, can cause significant die off in your lawn.
This is a photo showing lawn damage left by grubs that fed on the roots without being treated. This damage is must more expensive to fix after the damage has already been done. Damage is most easily recognized by an area that turns brown seemingly out of nowhere. The tell tale sign is if the lawn can be easily pulled up like sod. Grass that has had its roots eaten by grubs will no longer be attached to the soil, causing it to die and be easily pulled up. Often there will still be white grubs in the soil.
How to Prevent Grubs ❌
The bad news is that grubs can really cause a lot of harm to your lawn. But the good news is that they can be prevented if treated properly. There are both liquid and granular products that you can apply to your lawn that will harm grubs. The active pesticide ingredient will be soaked up by the grass blade, and moved down into the roots. When the grubs hatch, they will begin to feed on the lawn. The product will be eaten by the grub through the root and it will cause them to die. Preventative treatment is the best form of long lasting control and much more effective than reactive control.
As we observed in the diagram at the beginning, when a preventative grub control product is applied at the proper time in the early Summer, the product can soak down into the roots of the lawn and lie in wait until any grubs in your lawn are ready to feed. If used correctly, most grub control products will last you as long as needed to the Fall in order to prevent grub damage.
Conclusion and Application 🌱
If you have a healthy lawn, it isn’t a matter of IF you will have grubs in your lawn, it’s a matter of WHEN. It’s possible you already have them there, and they just aren’t in large enough number to do damage quite yet. A preventative treatment is an insurance plan for your lawn. It’s simple enough to do that it isn’t something that should be skipped, given the consequences if you decide not to do it. There are many products in the large box stores such as Scotts GrubEX that can give you the control needed to prevent grubs, however, remember that these are just residential products that may not work as well as what a professional company can offer. It is important to make sure you time it correctly and apply the product at the correct rate.
At Warren Lawn we offer grub control for Des Moines and Central Iowa that is commercial grade, giving you the best control for the longest amount of time. If you need lawn care services for your home, we have the knowledge and expertise to give you a healthy lawn and help prevent pests such as grubs. If you are needing other lawn care services to help your lawn remain healthy and weed free, Warren Lawn offers local fertilization and pest control services that can be tailored for your specific needs.
