To gardening enthusiasts, their lawn or garden is a very important part of their home. Flowers, plants, or just even the grass are very well taken care of. If there is one thing that will really piss them off, it will be pests that damage or kill them.

One of the most common pests that invade gardens are grub worms. If you are not familiar with them, they are those white or gray little creatures that munch up the roots of your plants and flowers.

What is a Grub Worm?

The grub worm is not exactly a worm, like your friend, the earthworm. Grub worms are basically beetle larvae, or the babies of those beetles. Unlike earthworms that fertilize your soil to make your plants and flowers healthy, grub worms ruin them by munching on the roots of your plants, flowers, and grass in your lawn or garden.

A healthy lawn can handle a few grub worms in the soil and will do little or almost no apparent damage. After the eggs of the beetle hatch and turn into larvae, they tunnel underground and start eating roots they see.

However, when there are more than 15 to 20 grub worms per square foot in your lawn or garden, then that is a real problem. You surely will notice that you have a grub worm problem when the condition of your lawn radically deteriorates.

Signs of Grub Worm Infestation

Grub worms are real pests and can cost you a lot when they damage your favorite (and expensive) plants and flowers. Here are some of the common signs of grub worm infestation:

• Droopy leaves
• Green-gray or brown patches on your lawn.
• Grass easily“peels” off.
• Ground feels spongy to the feet.
• Sudden death of plants, grass, or flowers.
• Appearance of moles, armadillos, or other pests in your lawn.

Gurb Worms: Why you should Get Rid of them

Grub worms feed on the roots of plants and the other things planted in your garden. Such actions severely affect them and eventually lead to wilting, or the death of these plants.

Roots of plants are very important organs. They are the ones responsible of absorbing water and other essential nutrients from the soil to make the plant grow. With them damaged or eaten up completely, the plant has no other means of absorbing nutrients and water from the soil.

When the roots are damaged, it may not be able to absorb the water and nutrients the entire plant needs to function properly, that is why you see your plants, flowers, and your grass droop, turn brown or gray, and eventually die.

Aside from damaging your garden, when there is a serious grub worm infestation, it will attract other animals or pests that feed on them, making the problem even more serious. Examples of such creatures that eat grub worms are armadillos, gophers, and moles. Though these creatures eat grub worms, they leave nasty burrows and instantly damage your lawn or garden.

Eliminating Grub Worms? What to Do?

Beetles usually lay their eggs during early summer (Learn how to get rid of beetles). After these eggs hatch, they turn into nasty pests, known as grub worms. Grub worms then tunnel underground and feast on the roots of plants and grasses until the winter or fall season.

If you will notice, this sort of problem is like a cycle and it seems that there isn’t a permanent solution to get rid of them. It is a cycle because these grub worms will soon mature and turn into adult beetles, and again, laying eggs in your lawn or garden that soon will become grub worms.

There are several ways to get rid of grub worms, but you must know that there is no permanent solution, nor a feasible plan to prevent them from coming back. The key here is being vigilant and knowing when the beetles in your area start laying eggs.

Surely there are pesticides that you can purchase and use. However, you might want to steer away from such chemicals if you have children or pets, or when you eat the ones you plant in your garden or yard.

A lot of people prefer the natural means of getting rid of these pests, there is no need to invest on expensive pesticides. All it takes is a little patience and time.

Natural way to Getting Rid of Grub Worms

Here are the steps to rid your lawn or garden of these grub worms naturally:

1. You already know you have a grub worm problem, now you have to determine when the beetles start laying their eggs. You can surf the Internet (Tips on how to search the internet) or call your local agricultural office to ask such information.
2. Nematodes are the natural enemies of grub worms. They infest and kill these pests. However, they are only effective on young larvae. This is where your research will come in. Once it is the season of beetles to lay their eggs, purchase nematodes from a gardening store and follow the instructions indicated. Spray on your lawn or garden.
3. To offset the damage caused by the grub worms, keep your garden or lawn watered. Abundant water will make the damaged roots easily absorb water.
4. Robins and other songbirds love grub worms. Have them in your garden and you will have to worry less about those pests. This is probably the best long-term solution you have.

Grub worms are serious pests especially to those gardening enthusiasts. This solutions will help you get rid, or at least keep the grub worms under control. You don’t have to worry about contaminating your garden with chemicals since you won’t need any at all. If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy how to get rid of moles.

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