How to Get Rid of Grubs in Your Lawn

The neem tree, or Indian lilac, is a tropical, evergreen tree that is native to India.   Oil expressed from the seeds of the olive-sized neem fruit is used for many purposes, including cosmetics, medicinal preparations, and to control certain insects.

Neem oil has certain compounds that mimic hormones in insects that control breeding and eating.   When neem oil enters insects' systems, it blocks their regular hormones, and their behavioral patterns are changed.    They may not mate or lay eggs, or eggs won't hatch.   They "forget" to eat, so they die. 

Neem oil affects "chewing and sucking" insects, including the larval grubs and the adult beetles.

As you can see, neem oil insect-control products don't kill insects quickly like other pesticides do, but it does control lawn grubs well.  You have to give it some time to work.

The Insect Control: Grub Beater shown below is made from neem seed oil, and it controls a number of different insect pests including white lawn grubs. Azadirachtin is the active ingredient in neem oil.

It disrupts feeding, so grass roots are left undisturbed; and it disrupts mating behavior and molting.  Grub Beater also acts as a repellent, keeping bugs from returning to the area.

Nematodes, or roundworms, are small, sometimes microscopic, worm-like animals.   There are species of nematodes in all habitats around the world.  Some species are beneficial, and are used to control grubs and other harmful insects.

These beneficial nematodes are harmless to humans and other animals, plants, and earthworms, but they're deadly to certain pest insects, including grubs.   When nematodes are introduced, they enter the grubs' bodies and feed on them, multiplying rapidly inside the host bodies.

When the food supply (host grub) is gone, the nematodes move into the soil to find other food.  Once the grub population is gone, the nematodes die out too, since their food source has been eliminated.

Milky spore is a bacterium that is lethal to white lawn grubs of Japanese beetles, and often works on other grubs as well, such as June beetle larvae. 

Milky spore is not harmful to humans, pets, or beneficial insects, or birds.

When milky spore bacteria is applied correctly to the lawn, grubs ingest it and die within 1 - 3 weeks.  When they die, they release billions of new milky spore bacteria into the soil, which will be ingested by more white grubs.

This actually works best with greater concentrations of grubs, because the more grubs that are feeding, the more milky spore bacteria that will be released into the surrounding soil when the grubs die, thus adding more protection.

It can take 6 months to 3 years to control grubs with milky spore, but once established will provide protection for 10 - 20 years.