If you find your lawn afflicted with the curse of the lawn grubs don’t despair. Treating and eradicating these pests is relatively easy.
Here’s some signs to look out for:
Increased bird activity on your lawn
One of the most easily spotted symptoms is an increase in bird activity on your lawn. These grubs make a great snack for the local birds and you’ll find them popping over to your place for lunch!
Greyish-brown moths
Small, greyish brown moths fly around looking out for the healthiest lawn to leave their eggs on, giving their larvae the best chance of survival. These moths can be seen flying around just above the grass normally around dusk. These moths lay their eggs en masse, and in 2–5 days these eggs become grub larvae. These caterpillars are the critters doing the damage as they spend between 18–24 days chewing through your beautiful lawn before becoming pupae and around 5–8 days later moths and so the cycle begins again!
Brown patches in your lawn
As your lawn recovers from the winter chill and spring sees your lawn becoming greener, especially after your spring fertilising, keep an eye out for brown patches that stay brown. You can lift some of the grass in the patched and if lawn grubs are the culprit you’ll find that the grass will roll up like a carpet, as it has no roots.
Spongy lawn
A spongy lawn can also be a good indicator of grub activity.
Grub test
If you are unsure if you have grubs in your lawn, it is best to do a grub test. To do a grub test, mix a bucket of soapy water and pour it over the edge of an affected area (where the grass is brown or dry). Keep an eye on it and after about 10 minutes or so, usually if they are there, they will come up to the surface. This test is best done at dawn or dusk when they are most likely to be active.
How to treat lawn grubs
So how do you fix it? We recommend using a fast acting knock down insecticide like Lawn Solutions Battle Insecticide. Battle Insecticide is a powerful knockdown and residual pesticide that works through direct contact and by residual action as the pest comes into contact with treated surfaces.
Prevention
Unfortunately attack by these grubs can happen to any lawn and can occur numerous times during a season.
This is why we recommend Grub Guard Ultimate, Acelepryn GR, Acelepryn Liquid. Acelepryn provides safe and effective control of black beetle while minimising the impact on the environment and non-target organisms, such as bees and earthworms.
Acelepryn targets pests such as black beetle, stem weevil, cut worm and army worm. The great thing about Acelepryn in comparison to other pesticides, is that it’s preventative. This is why spring is a great time to spread it out and protect your lawn for up to six months.
For more advice contact your local Lawn Solutions Australia turf supplier, and send those grubs packing.
