How to Get Rid of Grubs in Your Lawn

Grubs, ew. These tiny white bugs aren’t just kind of gross, they can actually damage your lawn. Grubs are insect larvae – usually beetles. In their infant stage, grubs like to live just beneath the surface of soil and chow down on the roots of your grass. When they mature into beetles, they climb out of the soil and start snacking on flowers and plants while also finding the time to lay gobs of eggs that will eventually turn into an entirely new batch of grubs.

And the whole unpleasant cycle continues.

How to Find Out if You Have a Grub Problem

The first indication that you may have a grub infestation is brown patches in your lawn. When the larvae eat your grass roots, the grass withers and dies, leaving bald spots in your lawn. When you notice these patches, pull up on the grass. If it rolls up easily like a piece of carpet, you’ve got a problem. This means the roots are weak or nonexistent and can’t anchor the grass into the soil. You can also grab a spade or shovel and pull up some soil. Dig down about two to four inches. If you only see a few grubs, then you don’t have a problem that requires any chemical intervention. If you notice a whole handful of grubs (ten or more for a square foot), then it’s time to take action.

Keep your eyes out for beetles too. The more beetles running around chomping on your flowers, the more likely they are laying lots of eggs, which will soon turn into grubs.

Understanding the Grub Lifecycle

When you understand the lifecycle of a grub, you can better watch out for a grub infestation. Grubs hibernate during the cold months of winter, but as soon as the snows melt in spring, the hungry little grubs begin gobbling up the roots of your grass. Throughout the spring, the larvae will turn into pupae and then into full-fledged beetles by summer. This is when you want to start looking out for beetles in your grass and garden. Summer is also the time the beetles will lay more eggs. The eggs hatch in the fall, introducing a whole new generation of grubs into your lawn just before winter hibernation.

Getting Rid of Grubs

If only you could ask grubs to find some other lawn to live on! Instead, it’s either the grubs or your beautiful lawn. If you live in Boise, Eagle, or Meridian, contact Nature’s Elite Lawn & Landscape, and we can provide safe and effective pest control services that will get rid of the grubs without putting your family, pets, or lawn at risk. The best time to get rid of grubs is in May or June, so give us a call today (208) 340-0820!