Grubs!!!

A couple of years ago, we had a beautiful front yard. Our grass was lush and green and our flower beds were gorgeous. Since I am a firm believer in perennials (plants that come back automatically from year-to-year), I had planted many of them in these miniature gardens. Late that summer, we began to notice that our grass and our gardens were dwindling--quickly. Much of the green grass was gone and what was left was yellowing. And little by little and lot by lot, our flower garden plants were dying also.

Last Spring, we noticed that the damage was even worse than it had been previously. Eventually, we had very large patches of dirt where no grass no longer lived. This year, we have noticed that many of our garden plants are also gone. The culprit? Grubs and lots of them. In case you do not know what a grub looks like, it is like a short and very fat yellowish colored worm or hairless caterpillar that, when picked up, barely moves in your hands. But when in the ground, these major pests chew on the roots of your grass and other plants until there is nothing left. That is when your plants and grass dry up and blow away.

No amount of watering will rescue your grass and plants. Allowing these grubs to continue to use your yard as a large buffet will result in large expanses of dirt. Of course, that is not the look that we want in our yard.

Yesterday, I visited with Tim at the Green Haus in Scott City. Time is absolutely one of those people whom you can ask any landscaping questions and he automatically knows your answers. I have never seen anyone quite like him. I described our problem to Tim. He agreed that these fatties that we have found in our ground are responsible for our lack of the wanted vegetation. I then asked him what we need to do to correct this issue. I also wanted to know if we need to kill the grubs before or after we rototill and plant new grass.

He advised me to till up the ground and plant the new seed. Once the grass has a pretty good stand, it will be time to spread grub poison on it. He explained that there are also grup sprays available but he normally does not recommend them. Once the spray is on the plant, it's effectiveness only lasts for 24-48 hours. By using the systemic granules, the poison is continuously been released over a time. Soon the grubs are dead and your new lawn is safe.

I also wanted to know when it is too late for new grass to be planted in the spring. Tim's answer is the first of June. However, planting the seed by June 10th will usually be fine.

VLE-B