Brown Patches in Your Lawn?

Are you finding brown, dead patches in your lawn? If you've already checked to make sure the sprinkler system is covering the area properly, you may have a grub problem. Late summer is the time of year when grub activity becomes most apparent. In June & July, Japanese Beetles look for nice moist, green lawns in which to lay their eggs. They tunnel beneath the lawn and remain there producing eggs for 2-3 weeks. In early August, their eggs begin to hatch and as the larvae grow, so does their need for food. They burrow into the root area or your grass and begin to nibble on the roots. Small infestations will cause minimal damage, but larger infestations can leave brown, unsightly patches of grass. If you also happen to have raccoons and skunks living in your area, they can further damage your lawn by digging into the sod looking for grubs leaving dead, barren patches of ground after feeding.

Identifying a grub problem is easy. Simply peeling back a damaged layer of sod will reveal whether or not white grubs are living just below the surface. The white grubs are a little over one inch in length and are usually seen curled like the one in the photo on the left. If you have a population of greater than 10 grubs per square foot of lawn, it’s time to take action.

One solution to grub prevention is to stop watering lawns around late June and let them go brown so that beetles don't find them attractive spots to lay their eggs. If that is not an option, Bayer Advanced 24 Hour Grub Control is the quickest solution on the market. It does not linger and quickly degrades after eradicating sod worms, mole crickets and grubs. For organic gardens, choose Safer’s 32oz Grub Killer (OMRI certified) to eliminate the grubs without leaving a chemical residue.