Question
I am in West Valley city, and for the past 3 years my grass has looked really good, and last year, the entire front park lane died, and I now have large areas in the front yard that are dead as well. I have heard of grubs, however I have no idea how to identify what is going on with the grass or how to treat it. You can pull up larges patches of grass easily, there don't appear to be any roots in some areas and I would like my grass to be pretty again. What can you recommend?
Answer(s)
If you think that you may have grubs in your lawn the first thing that you will need to do is scout for and find a grub for identification. There are several different types of grubs that love to eat lawn and each has a different life cycle and different control options. I have included links with more information on white grubs, billbugs and sod webworms below. One method that you can use to scout for grubs is to take 2 tablespoons of lemon scented dish soap and mix it with two gallons of water. Poor the water over 1 square foot of turf and wait for the larvae to surface. Be sure to do this either in the morning or the evening to avoid burning your lawn. Once you have larvae you can bring them into our offices at 2001 S. State Street Room S1200 if you need help in identifying the culprit.
White Grubs
http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/factsheet/ENT-104-07.pdf
Billbugs
http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/factsheet/ENT-106-07.pdf
Sod Webworm
http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/factsheet/ENT-44-07.pdf
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