I think my lawn has grubs

[Ladybug122]

Anyone deal with this? I thought that our lawn just needed more watering when it started to die mid-summer. Unfortunately, more water didn't help. Then I thought it was my dog's pee, but then it spread to the front yard. Then I noticed that there were little piles of dirt on my lawn, and my once carpet-like grass was getting patchy.... Someone at work mentioned grubs. Apparently, dead grass and piles of dirt (caused by crows looking for grubs) are symptoms. Unfortunately, neither DH or I are too "handy" shall we say, but I don't want to dump a lot of money into this either (especially if I can do it myself). I know I can't do much until the spring anyway, but anyone have this experience? And how do the grubs get there in the first place?

[migirl]

Re: I think my lawn has grubs

We had grubs a few years ago. My understanding is that if you don't take care of the problem, they can really destroy your lawn. I think they come from other grub-infested yards in your neighborhood.

At the time we had a lawn service, so I just called them and they added an extra treatment to take care of the grubs so I'm guessing it was some sort of chemical application. I can't remember exactly. :huh:

Sorry, that's all I've got.

[Deebs]

Re: I think my lawn has grubs

We have grubs. We had to have someone come out and tell us - I just thought the lawn couldn't recover from our drought. I don't know what to do about it - we're having a lawn service take care of it, but I do know that it's something to do in the spring.

[GrayMatterWife]

Re: I think my lawn has grubs

. . . grubs . . .

I know I will look the total fool for having to ask...but...what's a grub?

[GrayMatterWife]

Re: I think my lawn has grubs

behold a bunch of grubs:





Try using parasitic nematodes as a non-pesticide grub controller.

Sorry I asked. Gross. They look like the mealworms DH feeds to our turtles.

Re: I think my lawn has grubs

Use milky spores. It's an organic, biodegradable product. You put it just under the soil around your lawn.

[Ladybug122]

Re: I think my lawn has grubs

Ok, update...because I know you've all been waiting with anticipation to hear about my lawn... no grubs...just too little water and too much fertilizer...

Note to self: before hiring somone to do lawn maintenance, make sure they know what they are doing.

Long story short...we are having sod installed in a couple of weeks. Anyone out there have this done? I've been looking online to research maintenance (ie watering) schedules for new sod and it seems that I get a different reccommendation at different sites. If anyone has had sod installed sucessfully...do you remember how often you had to water for the first month or so? We're going on vacation in May and I think I'll need to hire someone to water my lawn so this is not all for waste. Give a shout out if you can help me!!

[Cumberland]

Re: I think my lawn has grubs

I have put in sod twice (by myself with lots of comments from DH). I put it in once in early spring, and once in the fall. Both times it was still fairly hot, probably hotter than where you are, and it needed lots of water. I would put the sprinkler on it at least every day, sometimes twice. And I would watch it carefully- it would get wilty and need more water. But both times it took, and looked good. I used St. Augustine once and Centipede once.