There are a wide variety of reasons to seek commercial landscaping services, and grubs may not be the first you think of. Grubs can destroy a beautiful lawn in a short time, however, so controlling them is critical to keeping your property looking its best.

What do grubs look like?

Typical lawn grubs are the white, c-shaped larvae of a few different types of beetles like Japanese beetles and June bugs. They are about a half inch long with brown heads and six legs. 

What can grubs do to your lawn?

Grubs burrow deep into your lawn and feed on grass roots and organic matter in the soil. A few grubs won’t harm a lawn and may even be healthy, but when they become concentrated in an area they destroy the root system and kill your grass.

How do you know if you have grubs?

If you have irregularly shaped brown or yellow patches of grass, there is a good chance grubs are the culprit. A spongy feeling to your turf could signal a grub problem even before patches start to die. Pencil sized holes where birds feed on the grubs, or other animals like moles, raccoons, or skunks tearing up your yard are also clues. 

If the root system has been badly eaten away, you may be able to simply lift the turf and roll it back like carpet. If you dig up a square foot area of turf about 2” deep and find ten or more grubs, it’s time to call for commercial landscaping services.

Grub Control Measures

There are a couple options to help prevent a grub infestation before it starts. Grub populations tend to be highest in consistently moist conditions, so ensuring proper drainage and periodically withholding irrigation in hot summer months can discourage them. Irrigation practices will not prevent them entirely, however. Another preventative option is nematode application. Beneficial nematodes are microscopic parasitic worms that get inside grubs and release bacteria that kills them. Nematodes should be applied in both spring and fall for best results.

If you had grubs last year and didn’t treat for them, there are bound to be more of them this year. Adult beetles lay their eggs in the soil in June, and they hatch a few weeks later and immediately start feeding. The damage that grubs do in late summer becomes visible the following spring. This means that preventative grub control methods from commercial landscaping services are much better than waiting until the damage is done.

Landworks’ commercial landscaping services include weed control and optional grub control with our fertilizer service. We apply the grub control in July when the grubs are most susceptible to insecticide. This ensures that your grub problem is under control before visible damage is done to your commercial property. 

For more information about commercial landscaping services from Landworks, call (913) 422-9300. To request a quote, click here.