Many people find great pride in the way their yard looks. They feel like it reflects on the way they care for other parts of their lives and that is why it can be deeply disturbing to look out over their lawn and see patches of dry dead grass. If you’re wondering who is to blame for those ugly spots you may not need to look further than the infamous lawn grub.
What are lawn grubs?
Depending on your region, lawn grubs can vary in size and type. In some areas, lawn grubs look like extremely fat, white U-shaped worms that are about an inch long or small cream colored grubs that are only about a half inch long. These are the babies of scarab beetles.
In southeastern Idaho, billbugs are much more common, and it’s their larvae that causes damage to your lawn as they feed. They are usually pale in color, legless, and smaller than the head on a penny. You might find them as you lift up a chunk of grass or move a stone around in your yard.
Though they may seem helpless as they thrash about in the dirt, don’t be fooled. If you have enough of these in your yard, they can do some serious damage to your grass.
There are four different types of billbugs in the area: Denver billbug, Phoenician billbug, Bluegrass billbug, and Hunting billbug. And because of their commonality, they can pose a large threat to the health and beauty of your lawn.
What do lawn grubs do to my lawn?
A lawn grub’s favorite food are the tender roots of the grass in a luscious lawn. If you’ve started to see strange patches of dead grass in your well-watered yard, then you might have a few grubs that have taken up residency under the topsoil. If the grubs and larvae really are to blame, then the patch of dead grass should be able to roll up like a rug because all of the grass roots have been eaten away.
Simply having lawn grubs may not be your only problem though. There are many critters that love to munch on these squirmy little bugs for an evening snack. This means that those critters will be attracted to your lawn and start digging up holes. Now you won’t just have dry patches but also little tunnels where animals came to feast.
How can I prevent lawn grubs?
When you apply any pesticides to your lawn make sure to water afterwards. Watering will cause the pesticides to soak down into the ground and encourage the grubs to come up to the moist soil. This way the poison and the grubs can find their way to each other. Another thing to do to prevent having beetles laying eggs in your lawn is to keep an eye out for grubs in neighbor’s lawns. Chances are if one person gets them they are likely to spread to your nicely watered lawn.
To prevent a grub infestation, it is important to regularly scout your lawn to see if there are any little grubs at home. A lawn can handle a few grubs here and there, but it’s when you have small colonies scattered throughout that the grass starts to die and you need to seek professional help.
At Yard Butler we have the know-how and equipment to not only spot an infestation but deal with it efficiently. We can get rid of your lawn grub problem and work with you to keep it from ever happening again with our tested preventative measures. With a little of our help you’ll have your lawn looking brag worthy again in no time.