Urban Pioneer

• Apr. 30, 2007 - Need Organic Advice on Grubs

We are having a grub problem with our lawn (well what there is left of it after the chickens LOL). My husband has finally gotten the coop in working order (still needs a few adjustments, but much better) and now he wants to get our lawn green again. We have never had a problem growing grass (except where the dog run was, but now he is gone) because we always just let grow what was natural, so despite the grubs it looked great, now we have a dirt patch with roots and lots of holes. My husband just wants to put some poison on it to kill the grubs......and I am like "NO WAY" with having chickens & children as well as becoming more environmentally conscious. So I asked him if we can look for a more organic way to deal with them. That is where we need some advice. What is the most effective way of getting rid of grubs. I did suggest rototilling and letting the chickens eat up the grubs, but I think he doesnt believe this would be as effective. Any natural advice would be appreciated!

Thanks!

UPDATE: I did a little research on the web and came up with some good information. Here is a good link that I found:

Toronto Environmental Alliance

Also from the Urban Exodus forum:

"Many [seed catalogs] sell a benificial bug (if you can call it that) called nematodes. They are microscopic little worm type things. You can buy some outrageous number (who is really going to count) and they come in a little packet in the spring which you add to water and spray it on your lawn or garden. I was a little sceptical at first but it really worked. I had a lot of trouble with grubs eating up my potatoes the first year we moved here, so the second year we did this and found no holey potatoes or carrots. They were very easy to apply. We used a watering can. You can also use nematodes to control the population of moles in your yard since moles eat grubs and the nematodes kill grubs."

I would still like to hear testimonies of those who have used these methods or other alternatives as well. Thanks.

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