Grubs!

[Jenny]

I'm told it's time to put down some kind of grub poison. I've got Japanese beetles all over my garden so I know they're lurking.

Unfortunately, the usually helpful expert at my locally-owned garden center was away, so I could not get help in figuring out which of the many products to use.

I read up on milky spore, and it does not look like a solution because my neighbors aren't using it so I'll just get their grubs.

I have a big yard--about 10,000 sq feet, so all this stuff is expensive. The lawn is a bit over a year old and has a lot of quack grass mixed in with a fescue/rye grass/bluegrass mix, and fairly thick turf. I've been mowing high and often.

I'm in the cold part of zone 5 in W. Mass.

What would be the best product to use? One time 24 hour Dylox? The long-term solution from the same company whose name escapes me? Grubex? Something else?

And is it indeed the time to apply?

Thanks for any light you can shed on this.

[Alan Sung]

Forget about using Dylox at this point. All grubs have turned into their adult flying form by now in Mass. so the Dylox would not be effective.

You should use Imidacloprid, the active ingredient in MERIT. This is about the time you want to apply MERIT in Mass. It is a systemic that will affect newly hatched grubs. This is currently egg laying season.

Grubex no longer contains Imidacloprid.

-al sung Hopkinton, MA Zone 6a

[clc]

Actually I just saw a local gardening show on PBS that spoke to this very subject. They indicated that unless everyone within a mile of you used a ground treatment anything YOU do will be basically worthless because JBs will travel a mile to feed. And, short of having a grass landscape alone, they will feed on just about anything.

I do feel your pain. I have a very small property and I easily pick hundreds an evening from my plants. They're devouring everything from asparagus fronds to roses to petunias to daisys to coneflowers.

Cheryl

[Starlord]

find "Mily Spore" it's what kills the groubs.

[Jenny]

I already read that milky spore is useless unless all your neighbors use it.

Our neighbors farm and some of them raise free range chickens, so there is no way they are applying chemicals to their property.

[bamboo]

What are you interested in controlling ? the grubs or the beetles? The grubs feed on underground plant tissues for a far longer period than the adult beetles and milky spore works pretty damn well albeit slowly at first. Mind the imidacloprid if it gets into flowering plants it's very hard on pollinators because it also gets into the nectar. As for the beetles, traps and hand picking will beat the wholesale application of pesticides. Allowing your cool season grasses to go dormant tis time of year will mean more beetles will lay their eggs in the lush green irrigated lawns of your neighbors. Cutting a test patch of turf and inspecting the soil for grubs is a good idea, you really need to take no action below the presence of about 10 grub/square foot. I have no experience with benneficial nematodes but I hear there is some control from them as well.

[Alan Sung]

Milky Spore is not that effective in the cold part of Western Massachusetts, zone 5. Just too cold. Same problem with the beneficial nematodes. None of them will survive the cold winter and must be re-introduced every year.

-al sung Hopkinton, MA Zone 6a

[Alan Sung]

on pollinators because it also gets into the nectar.

I didn't think that Merit had any effect on flying insects via ingestion of plant nectar and that it was specific to insects in the larval stage.

A simple solution would be to contain your application of Merit to the turf part of your yard only and avoid any excessive over spreading. Merit does leach or spread very far horizontally. "Good" pollinators don't visit turf grass for anything edible.

-al sung Hopkinton, MA Zone 6a

[Jenny]

Well, after some thought we decided not to do anything this year as we don't seem to have a major grub problem in the lawn, though we will keep an eye on it. The pollinator issue is a biggie: our next door neighbor keeps honey bees which feed on my flower garden and my fiance is very against using any poisons if not absolutely necessary.

No one waters grass out where we live as it is very rural (very gorgeous too.) I live in a town that looks more like "Vermont" than the real Vermont does.

I think I may put some beetle traps out at the other end of the property away from my garden and see if that helps next year. I have been picking the beetles out of the dahlias by hand, but by the time I get there, they've chomped through the petals. I won't spray because of the bees.

OTOH, all those dahlias I'd potted up and then left out to get frosted on our late frost bounced back and I have a splendid display of tall, gorgeous, if somewhat munched flowers. So starting them early in the pots was worth it.

[Jenn Vanderslice]

IIRC, Milky spore must be used every year and must be the only thing you apply to your lawn. Other chemicals will render it ineffective. Treating for grubs has nothing to do with treating for Japanese beetles since grubs can do extensive damage to your lawn. In PA, this is the perfect time to apply grub control.

Here's some info about grubs in PA:

[bamboo]

It seems to affect the bees ability to navigate , if they do not return home then there is no next generation. Of course the producers will probaly deny this but the beekeepers believe otherwise and also have a stake in it. If you will notice the original poster referred to beetles all over her garden. As for turfgrass application, if there are no clovers or no flowering weeds like dandylions or no nectar producing trees which includes maples, sure it would be hard to get into nectar.

[Alan Sung]

I meant to say that "Merit does NOT leach or spread very far horizontally".

-al