July is the time when I start to monitor my customers’ lawns for grub worms and I figured I’d warn you guys too! Here are the basics on grubs and how to treat for them this summer.

First off, grub worms are the larvae of the Japanese beetle, also known as the June Bug. June bugs zip and zing around lawns and landscapes during the early part of the summer and chew on trees and shrubs. This is bad, but what they do in later August is even worse.

The June bugs also spend time mating and laying eggs in well watered lawns like yours and mine. These eggs hatch into grubs worms and feed on grass roots until November or so. This is where the damage to the lawn comes in, and this is why we need to stop these guys.

The best defense against grub worm infestation is to lay down a preventative insecticide that works systemically. That means the product is taken into the grass plants and stays there for a few months to protect from the inside out.

Most of the grub treatment products you get in the store work this way using a brand product called “Merit.”

I recommend you guys get out this weekend and treat your lawns for grubs and get the product watered into the soil immediately. This way you’ll be covered against damage all season long.

In the next article, I will be talking about the damage the June bugs do to your trees and shrubs and how you can stop them there as well!

Over the years I’ve heard a lot of “bunk” when it comes to myths being spread about ways to take care of your lawn. In fact, some of these myths are just absurd, though many people do believe them. Let me clear up two of the biggest ones for you guys.

Wearing Golf Shoes Instead of Lawn Aeration

I talk to customers and readers of this site about lawn aeration all the time. You know I’ve said it’s one of the most important maintenance practices in the whole of lawn care… but someone, somewhere, a long time ago said that wearing golf spikes would do the same thing.

This is hilarious to me because first off, golf spikes are less than an eighth-of-an-inch long, whereas the tines on an aeration machine are 4-5″ long. You tell me — what works better?

Also, did you know that golf courses use aeration machines on their greens and fairways at least once per year? Golf courses have more golf spikes on them than anywhere on Earth, yet they still aerate! Imagine that!

Beer Works On Grub Worms

This one is funny too because enough beer can kill just about anything. But it is not a grub worm preventor or corrective. Grub worms are under the lawn in the soil, and even if you did spray a misting of beer on your lawn, you’d have to water it into the soil. By that time, it would be completely diluted and useless. And if by chance you didn’t water it in, the sun would bake it, producing a horrible smell — like a public park after Oz Fest or something!

Plus, do you know how expensive it would be to spread beer on your lawn? You’d go broke!

So, there are two lawn care myths that hopefully I was able to dispel for ya! Stick to the basics and you’ll be fine, I promise.