i_used_to_be_cool

I am going to have a big garden next year, and in prepping it I discovered grubs. I just thought my DH was letting the dog pee on the grass & that's why we were getting bad patches, but it's grubs!
Can anyone help me figure out how to get rid of grubs without chemicals? Anyone familiar with "beneficial nematodes"? They are supposed to get rid of grubs, but I don't want anything that might be harmful to my veggies or flowers.
Carol?

mcbean

I found this online:

98% of the time when people THINK they have a grub problem in their yard grass it will ultimately be found that it is either a fungal problem or even a fertilizer or chemical burn possibly from something they over used months before. Grub damage will be mostly on actively growing grass at the edge of a "bad spot" and you should be able to pull up green grass easily because it won't have any roots! If you cannot pull up freshly dying grass then you have a fungus or bacterial or virus problem EVEN IF you find grubs under the grass. Remember grubs should normally show up in every other shovel of dirt and healthy grass should easily be able to out grow their damage.

Instead of feeding grackles and blackbirds at a feeder spread cracked corn in your short grass lawn. As they are hunting for the corn they will gladly eat any grubs and weed seeds near the surface. Starlings are attracted to suet. Once you have them coming to your feeder, run the suet through a food processor and train them to eat this from the damaged section of your yard. Scatter small chunks of suet ground up in tiny hamburger like pieces so they have to hunt and dig for the suet, again they will also eat grubs they encounter. The suet might attract skunks or armadillos in the south and they will aerate the soil while digging for grubs:-)) I would not recommend getting a hog though!

Eleni

What are grubs???

i_used_to_be_cool

You asked for it....



The ones in my garden are fatter & nastier looking... yuck!

i_used_to_be_cool

Hmmm, maybe I don't have a problem then, if there are supposed to be a few here & there. Since I don't have any hogs or armadillos handy here in the Chicago burbs, I think i'll try the cracked corn .

Eleni

LOL LOL LOL !!! That is Eeww indeed!

morgan

Gah!! This is why I don't garden!

sarahxb

I also had grubs, which led to moles! Argh!

The beneficial nematodes are expensive and take several years to become effective. I needed a quick fix before my whole yard was detroyed, so I used the Grub-ex. The problem appears to be solved. I would have preferred the nematodes, but....

good luck!