07-07-2005, 10:37 PM
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Stephen Henning wrote:
(paghat) wrote:
Stephen Henning wrote:
We getting lots of Green June Bug swarming over our lawn this
year. It is their mating time. They aren't eathing anything,
just making lots of grubs. Lots and lots of grubs. Is their
any non toxic control for the grubs. We have a shallow well
and can't use any thing like diazanon.
A two-prong attack will be a permanent control:
Milky spore (Bacillus popillae) permanently limits the activity
of grubs (& if population can be kept always to one to three
grubs per square foot, the lawn & garden will be perfectly
healthy).
Purdue University states: If you use the grub control product Milky
Spore, be aware that these natural bacteria will only control the
grubs of Japanese beetles. In our area, it's highly unlikely that
the majority of the grubs in your lawn are all Japanese beetle
grubs. Using this product won't control the majority of the insects
damaging your lawn; nor will they make a dent in next year's
Japanese beetle population.
Steinernema nematodes are also a permanent control which takes
two years; by the third year the june beetles will be incapable
of a major explosion, the population pretty much permanently
infected with the nematodes & never able to recover in any big
way. Application of nematodes can be done once or multiple times
from about mid-July to to August or September, & that may be
enough to last for decades, though sometimes it should be done a
second year.
Michigan state found: Insect parasitic nematodes were inconsistent
in grub control tests.
Also available as an effective biological control are parastic
wasps (Tiphia intermedia), which parasitize beetle grubs as their
first choice. Some of the finer independent nurseries will
seasonally sell parasitic wasps in early autumn, or they can be
obtained from any number of mail order sources.
These sound good.
Starlings are also super-qualified white grub controls, so if the
starlings have ever annoyed the bejabbers out of you as
garbage-birds, think of them in the future as the white grub
police. Robins also do a pretty darned good job of yanking white
grubs out of the lawn. Birds in general should be encouraged.
We haven't seem many starlings for a while. The robins will have
to do. We have wild turkeys, perhaps they will eat the grub and the
ticks.
Moles & skunks are the less often welcomed white grub predators.
These are the main reasons I want to get rid of the grubs. When the
moles come along the destroy the deep roots and the lawn become very
fragile.
Using the lawn mower to reduce their numbers sounds like fun. But
I use a mulching rear-discharge mower, so bagging isn't an option.
You can have some of my starlings.
If your mower is a rear dischage one where does it discharge to?
--
Travis in Shoreline (just North of Seattle) Washington
USDA Zone 8
Sunset Zone 5
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