Grubs will often target the healthiest looking lawn on the street as their next tasty meal. When lawns get attacked by grubs, they often will have already created extensive damage before being noticed. Following an attack, the lawn can take a few weeks or a few months to fully repair itself.
Instead of going through the long process of nursing your lawn back to health, prevention is a far better solution.
Black Beetles and Grubs
The one pest we come across most frequently in South Australia is the black beetle and its earlier, more damaging, larvae stage – more commonly known as ‘grubs’.
Scientific name: Heteronychus arator
Black beetle eggs are laid in spring and early summer. After several weeks the eggs hatch and the larvae or grubs emerge.
Black Lawn Beetles and their grub offspring feed regularly on the roots of lawns, and if ever found in concentrated very large quantities then this feeding can cause damage to the lawn very quickly.
Due to their life cycle, we find March and September to be the most susceptible months for grub attacks.
Common signs of Grubs
When grubs are present in your lawn, they will eat through your lawn’s roots. As the turf can then no longer absorb nutrients, the grass will become dry and straw like. When there is an infestation, large areas of the lawn will be affected quickly.
Look out for:
- Wilted leaves – even after regular deep watering
- Straw-like, dry leaves
- Yellowing leaves
- Dead or dying patches with no other explanation
- Turf that is easily lifted from the soils surface
Test for Bugs
This is best done at dawn or dusk when grubs are most active.
Simply mix some water with soap in a bucket and pour over the area you suspect is infested with bugs. Wait a few moments and any bugs in the ground will rise to the surface. This is a great opportunity to snap a quick picture and send it through to us so we can easily identify them for you.
If the bugs you find aren’t Black beetle or grubs, head over to our bugs page here or send us an email and we will be happy to help.
Preventing bugs in your lawn
None of the above symptoms are something you want to find in your lawn, so in this case, prevention is imperative.
We recommend an application of Grub Guard Ultimate twice a year in March/April and September/October. One application of Grub Guard Ultimate will provide you with protection for up to 6 months. So, two applications per year will ensure your lawn is protected from grubs throughout the whole year.
Grub Guard Ultimate Powered by Acelepryn is an insecticide that provides your lawn with 6 months of protection from grubs and caterpillars like Black beetle, grubs and Armyworm in one single application.
Grub Guard Ultimate works by targeting a specific muscle receptor that is common with damaging causing insects. Other non-target organisms like bees, earthworms, birds, fish, and mammals don’t use the same muscle receptors, making it one of the safest insecticides on the market!
What to do if you already have grubs?
If your lawn already has a grub infestation, it is best to act quickly to help prevent further damage.
Delaying treatment can cause a substantial amount of damage as the grubs will move fast along the lawn while laying eggs and increasing in numbers.
After you have identified there is an infestation, we recommend using a fast-acting product for a quick knockdown. We recommend using Lawn Solutions Grub Guard or Battle Insecticide to get the job done quickly. When using insecticides, it is always best to check the label for application and safety instructions.
The best time to apply the treatment is in the late afternoon/dusk when the lawn grubs are most likely to be active. To ensure you have treated the full lifecycle of the grubs, apply a second treatment in 2 weeks. This will help ensure that any eggs that may be in the lawn have been treated, avoiding a second attack. If you do still see these grubs after this, reapply every 2 weeks until they are gone.
After eradication, don’t forget to add Grub Guard Ultimate to your lawn care regime, to stop them returning in the future!
If you have any further questions or need some advice, contact our lawn consultants today, they will be more than happy to help!
