Stop Grubs from Destroying your New Jersey Lawn

It’s summertime here in New Jersey, and that means sunshine, golfing, fishing, hiking, and outdoor barbeques. This year more than ever, people will be staying home and enjoying their backyards. Why allow pests or insects to destroy the lawn you’ve worked so hard to obtain these last few months? One insect that tends to wreak havoc on our New Jersey lawns is the nefarious grub. 

A Threat to New Jersey Lawns

These tiny beetle larvae have giant-sized appetites, and your grass is their favorite meal. In technical terms, grubs are the larvae of scarab beetles. Adult grubs seek out cozy spots in your turf to lay their eggs and bury them right underneath the surface. This makes them hard to spot. The eggs take anywhere from six to 50 days to hatch before moving on to the next step of larvae. Once they hatch, they begin to feed on your lawn’s roots devouring everything in sight. Even the healthiest and most robust greens can fall prone to the devastating damage grubs can cause. 

Signs of a Grub Problem

Grubs are tiny and buried inside your soil, making them hard to find. It’s important to know the symptoms so you can catch it early and hopefully take the right steps before too much damage is done to your lawn.

Some giveaways of grub damage include:

• Browning, where areas of your grass will not green even when overwatered or fertilized
• Sections of grass roll easily when stepped on or kicked up, even if otherwise cared for properly
• The early death of plants in your garden that otherwise have shown no signs of distress or poor health. 
• Another sign is the damage done by moles, raccoons, skunks, and other medium-sized animals through the tearing up of your lawn. This is because moles and other animals consider grubs a gourmet meal, and they will stop at nothing to obtain this fancy feast. 

How Can You Prevent Grubs?

Preventing grubs is not always easy. Grubs are always searching for their next lawn. However, a healthy and robust lawn will be better able to fight off a grub infestation should one occur. 

A few ways you can help prevent grubs from attacking your lawn include: 

• Underwater your yard in mid-summer. This may sound strange since most people do not want their grass to turn brown, but grubs are highly attracted to moisture and humid temperatures. 
• Properly care for your soil. The health of your soil can determine a lot of factors throughout the season. 

Ensuring you make an effort to create a healthy area for your yard is arguably the most critical step to creating a thriving environment for your lawn. The best way to prevent a grub problem is through year-round care and a fertilization program such as the one we offer at Harvest Lawn Care. Our specialized 6-step program is designed to give your lawn the proper fertilization, and weed control needed to ensure it’s strong enough to withstand disease and small infestations of most pests. 

But because even the healthiest lawns can still become home to grass munching grubs, Harvest Lawn provides an additional grub control service that will specifically target and reduce the population of grubs in your lawn.