Do you have dead spots on your lawn? Maybe you have some sickly-looking plants in your garden. And despite all your work to rectify these two things, nothing’s changed. Well, the problem may be a bit more than skin deep. You may have beetle grubs, both invasive and not. That’s why today we’re going to get into some Florida grub control and what you can do to protect your garden.
Florida Grub Control: Overview
To begin with, we’ll talk about the damage that lawn grubs do to your turf. There are several kinds of damage that these pests inflict. Brown patches, for example, that don’t green up in the spring may very well be the result of grubs feeding in the previous fall. Also, random splotches of dead and dying grass patches may indicate them as well.
And if you see birds, raccoons, skunks, moles, and other small animals tearing up parts of your lawn, well, that’s why. These pests are great food sources for these animals. Also, go outside and give parts of your grass a tug. If it lifts easily, there’s a good chance that this damage may have been caused by grubs.
But keep in mind, having five or fewer grubs per square foot isn’t a real problem. These are naturally occurring insects and a pretty important part of your ecosystem as they shore up that bottom of the food chain. But if you find closer to ten or more per square foot, you’ll likely need to take action. This will cause noticeable damage and require treatment. Stay on top of your Florida grub control before they become too big of an issue to handle. Prevention is always better than having to find a cure.
What are Lawn Grubs?
Now, you may be a little confused. If you’ve gotten this far and still don’t know what a lawn grub is, and why Florida grub control is important, let me explain. Lawn grubs are also known as white grubs and are tiny white creatures that curl up into a C shape when disturbed. This is the larval form of many types of beetles.
This can include oriental beetles, Japanese beetles, chafer beetles, and green June beetles; and many more. The female beetles lay their eggs in the lawn, which hatch during the summer. The young grubs then feed for a few months leading into the fall. It is at this time that they’re the most active and thus, do the most damage. The life cycle of these beetles takes typically around a year.
When active, you can find grubs a couple of inches below the surface of your soil. When winter comes, they burrow deeper, up to eight inches beneath the surface. These guys tend to damage lawns by feeding on grassroots. They develop into beetles after, which feed on foliage and flowers.
What are methods of Florida grub control?
Now, it’s probably easy to tell that we prefer natural methods of grub pest control. So we’ll start with those.
The first and one of my favorite methods is to attract starlings to your yard. These birds raise their young up on white beetle grubs. Not only that, but their beaks are tiny and specialized, so at worse, they’ll leave a small hole where they yank the beetle out of the grass. So putting a nesting box up for these birds would be a great step in controlling these pests.
Also, consider reducing your use of artificial fertilizers. I know that’s blasphemy to a lot of lawn care enthusiasts, but hear me out. Fertilizers meant to “green up” your yard force the grass to grow far faster than it naturally would. This gives the grass’s immune system and natural ability to survive these beetles a bad start in life. Healthy soil with nutrients released slowly by decomposition is the best way to a healthy lawn.
Considering that, think about leaving your grass clippings to compost where they fall. This lets the roots grow slowly and become stronger adult blades of grass. And when you water, don’t water more than once a week. But when you do, water deeply. If you want to make sure you’re getting the right levels, but a container on your lawn. It should have about an inch of water in it by the time you’re done. This leads to healthy and deep root growth. These are some of my favorite natural Florida grub control methods.
Other Methods of Grub Control
Now, before we move on I just want to make sure you understand that insecticide can be a useful tool, but be careful in application. Too much and you can poison more than just the target bug. Too little and you create a generation of super pests that have slight immunity to your poison of choice.
Curative problems such as trichlorfon are designed to kill grubs at any stage of their development. And if you’ve had grub problems the previous year and expect them this year, consider a preventative that contains chlorantraniliprole or imidacloprid. These can be effective in stopping a new generation before it stops. But, each package of these insecticides will tell you the best time and amounts to apply during your mission, so follow these closely.
What else can I do?
If there are no results from your own methods of Florida grub control, consider contacting a professional pest control company to come in and take the problems off of your hands. For many, a layman just isn’t able to properly deal with a real pest infestation without risking some of their safety, time, or needless amounts of cash. If your best efforts fail, be sure to leave it up to a professional before the problem gets even worse.
A well-trained hand can also apply these insecticides, if you need them, without damaging or even exterminating beneficial species like mantids and dragonflies from your lawn and garden. And once again, chemicals like these can be dangerous. One mishandling can leave you personally covered with damaging chemicals.