PASig,

To kill Grubs you definitly want Bonide Insect and Grub killer. It will kill grubs in 24 hours.

https://bonide.com/product/insect-grub-control/

Or a skunk.

What is the best active ingredient for grub control?

Pesticides for Grub Control

For fall Grub infestations, apply a pesticide that's labeled for Grub control and contains the active ingredient trichlorfon (Dylox) or carbaryl. (The active ingredient is listed on the front of the packaging.)

BioAdvanced has this...

quote:

Did the watering on top of heavily compacted soil backfire on me?

Possibly. But I'd have to know your soil type and know what the runoff number in your county is. (Mine is 81% in my county, for example.)

There's a ton of different things that could be the culprit, but the water it needs it really needs in April and May. Once it pops up, fescue is usually fairly drought tolerant. An inch a week should keep it trucking along fiercely. At least it does here (mainly K31 fescue).

Usually MO is hot and dry after July 4th, but this year we've had rain at least once a week, every week since then. So I'm having the opposite problem. What would normally be chilling out and browning up is still late-June green. It's a lot of mowing, but after the last two drought years, I'll take mowing over the alternative.

quote:

posted August 27, 2024 07:24 PM Hide Post
What is the best active ingredient for grub control?

Pesticides for Grub Control

For fall Grub infestations, apply a pesticide that's labeled for Grub control and contains the active ingredient trichlorfon (Dylox) or carbaryl. (The active ingredient is listed on the front of the packaging.)

BioAdvanced has this

thIS ^
It is expensive, but works once you have made the correct diagnosis

You prob need to find a local retailer who sells to professional landscapers, specializing in growing lawns. Pay them to do a soil test using their own contractor, and follow their instructions to the T. You can't just guess and try stuff, you have to follow the science and practice for your climate and specific region. IF you follow their instructions exactly, you will learn a LOT about the WHEN and WHY of growing a lawn. Otherwise, you're paying good money after bad.

You will know you're doing the right thing after you stop buying your chemicals and soil conditioners from hardware stores, and buy only from the retailer you picked to advise you. The hardware store retail products designed to spend people's money, and are not the products used by the pros.

Ask me how I know.

Update:

I dug up 3 different 1 foot square sections and found only 1 grub but I think I found the issue yesterday after trying to do some core aeration with a manual tool I found at HD:




I have a guy coming with a aeration machine but he can't do it until Sept 21st and I don't want to waste 3 weeks of prime overseeding time so I cut this front short, then ran my SunJoe dethatcher over it and it pulled up a TON of thatch then I started aerating (what a PITA by hand) with the goal to have it done in another day or so then overseed in time for some rain at the end of the week.

What I found was this soil is SUPER compacted and clay about 2 inches down then I hit what feels like gravel or even rock at about 3 inches with this core aeration tool. This must be why my roots are always weak, they have too compacted a soil to penetrate and then after 3 inches they are hitting rocks.

What can I do short of digging this all out and starting over with fresh topsoil? I can't do that right now, do not have the time or the money for that. Can I amend this soil after aeration to at least build it up from the top and give the grass some more to work with? A local landscaping supply has some really excellent screened topsoil I've used over the years elsewhere, they mix in mushroom soil and the grass seems to like it. Should I try putting an inch over this section after it's aerated?

Top dress with good soil, you don't need to dig it up, just spread a light dressing of good top soil and let the grass move up on top of it, don't cover it 100% of course, rake it.

Before you do that go rent an aeration machine at Home Depot, Lowes and bring it home, run it over it yourself if you want it done earlier, but caution the machines are heavy and a lot of work, you can't put it in the back of your van, you'll need to trailer it home.

There are some companies that offer chemical aeration, supposedly it does the same with a chemical injection to loosen up soil.