Marianne's Response

Leaving grubs up to nature and planting ahead

I am new to gardening. I am turning over my lawn, well actually weeds. When I pull the weeds I see at least one grub just about under every weed i pull. I am planting a vegetable garden and i am going to put grass seed down for grass to grow where i’m not planting. Will the grubs hurt my vegetable plants? Will they bother the grass if it grows? I have dogs and am a little concerned about putting a chemical down. If I have to I can put something down on the front of my house which is the main lawn, and block that off. Then after a little while, do the side of my house which is where my vegetable plants are going. Will the grubs hurt my plants? Will they go away if I just pull all the vegetation? This my first time planting please help.

Posted by Rosemarie Harm on May 19, 2014

Marianne's Response

Sounds like you could have cranefly larvae or perhaps June beetles but I cannot be sure unless you send a photo of the grubs. You can still plant veggies but certain varieties such as root crops may be damaged by the grubs. A healthy lawn can easily out grow any crane fly damage and birds should soon be discovering the grubs and eating them for you. There is also a natural insecticide safe to use on vegetable gardens for grubs. It is called Bacillus popilliae and you can find it in several commercial pesticides. Turning the soil will also expose the grubs to birds and other predators. Until you see some unacceptable plant damage the best course may be to ignore the grubs and let nature take care of the problem. Keep growing, Marianne Binetti

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