Symptoms of Grub Feeding

As your lawn greens up in spring, keep an eye out for brown patches that never turn green. Those dead patches may be due to Grub feeding that occurred the previous fall.

Grubs feed on grass roots and organic soil matter that causes sections of lawn grass to die. To check if grubs are to blame for your dead patches, lift a piece of your turf. If Grubs are the culprit, the dead patch will roll up like a carpet, or you'll be able to pull up the grass and see that it has no roots.

Irregularly-shaped dead patches appear in your well-irrigated lawn in late summer or early fall. Check your turf using the technique just mentioned.

Grub damage to lawn is also caused by birds, skunks, armadillos, raccoons or moles are tearing up your lawn —they eat Grubs and are trying to uncover them. These animals also dig and eat Earthworms, so confirm Grubs are present before pursuing any treatment.

Your turf has become spongy. Sometimes you can detect sponginess before extensive brown patches appear. With well-watered lawns, sponginess may be the first clue that Grubs are present.