Spot the problem: grub infestations are characterized by dead, brown spots on your lawn that are easily lifted up.  You may also notice that your lawn appears torn up, or you’ll see birds picking at the grass searching for grubs to eat.

Know the facts:  Grubs are actually immature Japanese beetles in the larval stage.  Beetles will lay clusters of eggs 10-25 cm deep in the soil.  The eggs usually hatch in December or January and the emerging larvae live in your lawn as grubs for about 9 or 10 months, at which time they enter the pupa stage.  Pupa look similar to grubs, but have visible wings as they begin turning into beetles.  After about 3-4 weeks in the pupa stage, the adult beetle emerges from the ground around October or November and sets about mating right away.  Because most adult female beetles are mated immediately, they tend to lay their eggs right where they emerged, leading to future infestations in the same area.  You may not realize that in the larval stage, grubs can actually live in your lawn for up to two years if conditions remain dry and cold!

Take back your yard!  Ridding your lawn of grubs can be a daunting task if you don’t approach it the right way.  Many people mistakenly think that a 24-hour killer will solve the problem for good.  Not true!  If you’ve got an existing grub problem, your first task is to play defense – use a 24-hour grub killer to exterminate the live grubs currently living in your lawn.  However, a 24-hour killer will not prevent eggs from hatching.  For this, you’ve got to play a little offense.  A season-long grub killer will get rid of the grubs and the eggs, and will prevent infestation for one season.  But remember, the beetles will be back next year to lay more eggs, and the grub problem can easily return. 

To prevent reinfestation, we recommend Milky Spore, a spreadable product that is most effective when applied three times a year (spring, summer and fall) for two consecutive years.  Milky Spore is a naturally occurring bacterium that is ingested by grubs during their natural feeding pattern.  The spore cripples the grub and kills it within one to three weeks.  As the grub decomposes, millions of additional spores are deposited into the soil, continually increasing your lawn’s natural protection.  Milky Spore only targets grubs and will not harm people, pets, birds or other insects.  It is approved and registered with the EPA and will not affect wells or other water supplies.  The Milky Spore product we carry is guaranteed to control your grub and beetle problem for 10 years, but customers we’ve spoken to have had luck up to 20 years!

Total protection: if you see the signs of a grub problem, attack it in three steps:

1) 24-hour grub killer to get rid of live larvae;
2) Season long grub killer to prevent hatching and kill larvae;
3) Milky Spore to naturally and continually cripple the grub and beetle population and to prevent reinfestation for 10 years, guaranteed.

It’s a little expensive, but well worth the price and the effort!