No-Hassle White Grub Control

(The Less You Do, the Fewer You Will Have)

In most areas, damage to lawns from white grubs begins to appear in July. You’ll see patches of yellowed, dying grass appear here and there. When you pull on these patches, they lift right up with no effort and you can see grubs (plump whitish C-shaped larvae) in the soil underneath. Also, different animals, including skunks, dig holes in the lawn in search of grubs, thus signaling their presence.

To try to control white grubs, learn not to mow too short (never below 3 inches), because adults (June bugs, European chafers and Japanese beetles, all large beetles) prefer to lay their eggs in short grass. In addition, mowing the grass short stresses the lawn itself, so when when grubs are present, it suffers to a greater degree (long grass lawns can sustain considerable grub populations with no obvious symptoms). Always leave grass clippings on the lawn, as they repel adults. Also prefer a lawn containing a good portion of plants other than grass – clover, thyme, ground ivy, etc. – as adults prefer lawns largely composed of turf grasses. Learn to tolerate the presence of small ant nests in the grass, as ants greedily consume beetle eggs. Finally, avoid watering the lawn during drought, as grubs die massively when the lawn goes summer dormant.

And there you go: lots of tips on dealing with grubs, simply by doing less work rather than more!