Grubs

Sky521 said:

Milky Spore

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/gaston/Pests/japbeet.html

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The problem with Milky spore is that it takes 3 years to work and it only works on one kind of beetle. On Long Island they replaced Merit with Dylox....but who knows if thats even safe.

ALLSKIING said:

The problem with Milky spore is that it takes 3 years to work and it only works on one kind of beetle. On Long Island they replaced Merit with Dylox....but who knows if thats even safe.

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I knew it took time...and repeated apps....and it's NOT cheap. But for those concerned with kids in the yard barefoot...etc, it may be the only answer. My wife is against lawn chems. We have a well...we have a mini wetland two lots away. So I watch what I use.

I bought...but have not used, a 24-hr grub killer...from Bayer I think. So far I have not needed it. I bought it because it only lasted 24 hrs...non-persistant. I'll do some looking before I launch with it though (if I launch with it).

I have not addressed the grubs specifically but last weekend I rented this cool dethatcher with a seed spreader (I think it's called an overseeder). It's basically a gas-powered rake with a hopper. It rips up all the crap from between the blades of grass and makes the soil very receptive to seeds, lime, and chemicals. If your lawn is mediocre, it tills the soil and leaves you with "tumbleweeds" to rake (easy). On the good parts of the lawn, it just helps add seed.

So I seeded, limed and added turf builder with dandylion killer. Things are greening quickly and the dandylions are not coming back. I would think that if you want to add a grub killer, you should dethatch first. It even picks up leaves from the soil and makes them easy to rake up. I raked up the big stuff and ran over the loose stuff with my mulching mower to help build the organic content.