Best Grub Killers

Scarab beetles were venerated in Ancient Egypt as a personification of the god of resurrection and immortality. But, nowadays, these metallic-colored beetles can actually signal death--of your beautiful lawn or garden, that is. Scarab beetles include over 30,000 different species--some of the more prevalent being Japanese beetles, June bugs, and European Chafers. The adults lay eggs in the soil of your lawn, which hatch and develop into large grubs, which feed on the roots of your grass plants. If you see bald patches in your lawn, it could be a strong indication that are grubs munching on your plants. It’s important to eliminate the grubs or their parents. If you don’t, there’s a risk of an even bigger risk to your lawn: there are animals like moles and raccoons that love to feed on grubs. If you leave the grubs in the soil, these animals will rip up the turf to get to the grubs!

Japanese Beetle Grubs--The Enemy

Bald spots in a lawn--indicative of grub infestation

Fortunately, there are a number of products that can eliminate grubs on contact--and they are effective for three months after you apply them. And they won’t just kill grubs. They’ll be effective against ants, ticks, earwigs, and moth larvae that can also destroy lawns and vegetable patches. But there’s a trick to knowing when to apply each product, and figuring out what’s best for your needs. We’ve composed this buyer’s guide to help you make the right decision when selecting a grub killer. It'll help you:

• Choose the right type of grub killer,

• See useful tips about that particular type of grub killer,

• Read reviews of different grub killers, and what customers are saying, 

• Select the right brand of grub killer, and 

• Compare prices and find the best deals.

• Spray: There are spray grub treatments that kill insect pests on contact, that you can apply by means of a trigger sprayer. You can also dilute them and attach them to a garden hose and apply to wide swatches of your garden or lawn. An example is the Spectracide Triazicide Insect Killer for Lawns and Landscapes.

Spectracide Triazicide Insect Killer

• Granules: There are also grub killer formulas that come in granule form that you apply to the soil. An example is BioAdvanced’s Grub Killer Plus Insect Killer. When applied, it kills grubs within 24 hours. A 10-lb. bag will cover an area of 5000 square feet, and be effective for grubs, billbugs, and mole crickets (that like to burrow underground). For other lawn pests, you can distribute the formula over a greater area, up to 7500 square feet.

BioAdvanced Grub Killer Plus Granules

• Dual action insecticide: You’ll see grub killers that are “two-way formulas, such as the Bayer Advanced Complete Insect Killer for Soil and Turf. It is effective as both a contact insecticide and as a systemic insecticide. It will eliminate the surface insects for up to 30 days, and kill off the subsurface insects for 3 months. Insects will die from either contact or by eating the treated plant.

• Beware of affecting bee populations: Some of these insecticides may be harmful to beneficial insects as well, such as bees. The makers of the Bayer Advanced Complete Insect Killer advise not applying the treatment when bees are foraging among flowers. So, it should be applied in the early spring, while bees are still staying in their hives.

• Check if you need to water the soil: Some products do not require watering the soil to get the treatment to seep in. The Bayer Advanced Formula Killer Granules has to be spread with a seed spreader, or with a plastic container with holes in the bottom. If you water the soil two consecutive nights, that should be enough to get the formula into the soil. One customer noticed the next morning that literally hundreds of dead grubs were in the driveway!

• Treat lawn only if shows grub damage: It’s recommended that you use a grub treatment only if you have reason to suspect grub damage. If you have experienced a drought during the summer, and you didn’t water the lawn over that period--it’s very unlikely that grubs would be present in such soil. But, if you irrigate your lawn and keep it well-watered the whole year round, you may have to apply an insecticide to keep the grub population down. Also, when the autumn comes, and the lawn, in general, starts to recover from the hot summer weather, you may see that some parts are nice and green, while other parts are more dingy colored. The areas that remain dingy may indicate a grub problem.

• When to inspect your lawn: August and September are the best times to inspect your lawn, to see if it has a grub infestation. That’s when the grubs are expected to be the most active, and on their way to emerging. If you pull on the grass in a dingy section of your lawn, and you notice that the soil moves around and seems rather loose, that could indicate grub activity further down. If you can lift out a patch with just your hands, you might already be able to see grubs underneath. If not, then dig out a small patch of your lawn, 2-4 inches deep, to expose the soil underneath the grass roots. If you see more than 5 grubs in a soil sample, that means that you should treat the lawn. If you find an infestation, apply a grub killer and water it into the soil. (Don’t submit to the temptation to start unnecessarily ripping up the infested area!)

• When to apply the treatment: Here is an infographic showing the life cycle of the Japanese beetle. The grubs are the ones that eat at the roots of the grass plants. The adults should be eliminated as well: they will feed on the leaves of plants. As you can see, the main feeding periods of grubs are in April-May and August-September. Thus, the best time to kill off Japanese beetle grubs is by applying an insecticide in mid-July-late September, when the grubs are small, or in the early spring (March-April).

Treatment chart of the Spectracide Triazicide Insect Killer

• Spraying tips: People who use the Spectracide grub treatment are advised to wet the leaves and branches of your plants until they drip. Also, spray both sides of leaves, in order to eliminate adult bugs that may hide on the underside of the leaves. Take note of the coverage of each product. Six ounces of the Spectracide spray will cover 1000 square feet of lawn.

• The number of insects that the treatment kills: Different products will kill a wider spectrum of insects. The Ortho Lawns Bug B Gone can kill over 100 types of insects. But the Spectracide Triazicide Insect Killer can eliminate over 260 types of insect pests: many types of ants, fleas, ticks, crane flies, and more.

• Ortho is located in Marysville, Ohio. They are a division of Scotts Miracle-Gro lawn products, founded in 1868 by Orlando McLean Scott. Ortho makes products to eliminate insect pests and weeds from your garden, as well as plant diseases.

• Spectracide, founded in 1960, is a maker of weed and grass killers, insecticides, and disease and fungus control products. They make effective compounds against fire and carpenter ants, termites, Japanese beetles, and stinging insects. 

• Bayer was founded in 1863 as a chemicals and pharmaceuticals company, which later developed a unit for crop science, specializing in pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. There are many brands that go under the Bayer name, and SBM Life Science is their division of insecticides in North America.

• Bonide was founded in 1926 and is based in Oriskany, New York. They make products for controlling insects and plant disease, as well as weed control products, fertilizers, and more.