White grub treatment
Help me!
My lawn has bare patches, pulls easily, and seems to have holes everywhere.
We’re here to help! Use our white grub treatment to protect your lawn!
The Japanese beetle or the European chafer’s larva have infiltrated your soil.
This larva, also called white grub, is responsible for the damage to your lawn.
Learn more about the evolution of white grubs to protect your lawn from their ravages.
Phase 1 – Laying eggs
In June and July, the Japanese beetle and the European chafer fly from lawn to lawn to lay their eggs.
Phase 2 – Appearance of larvae
After the eggs have hatched between July and September, the larvae cause two problems:
1. They attract skunks, which dig into the soil to feast on them, resulting in holes in your lawn.
2. They feed on the roots of the grass, causing the lawn to greatly deteriorate in this area.
Phase 3 – Patches of dead grass
In April and May, after sinking into the soil during the winter to keep warm, white grubs return to the surface and continue their rampage creating patches of dead grass.
Phase 4 – Infestation
In the following months of June and July, the surviving grubs become adults, fly away, reproduce, and go on to infest surrounding lawns.
Discover our other services: lawn treatment, insect control treatment, soil amendment, lawn aeration and tree, hedge and shrub fertilization.
Did you know that cVert offers its lawn treatment services in most regions of Quebec? Trois-Rivières, Centre-du-Québec, Montreal, Gatineau, Quebec City, North Shore of Montreal, South Shore of Montreal, Sherbrooke.
Get your lawn back to full health with our grub treatment
At cVert, we know how crucial the treatment of white grubs is to the health of your lawn. These pests are widespread in Quebec lawns and can cause serious damage if not treated in time. Fortunately, our teams are used to eliminating them effectively. Find out all you need to know about grubs and their elimination to better understand their impact on your lawn!
White grubs are the white larvae laid by beetles such as the common chafer, the European chafer and the Japanese beetle: they’re a big headliner in the gardening world! These beetle larvae feed on the roots of your grass, causing considerable damage to the lawn.
Size and shape of white grubs in the grass
Similar to small white maggots, chafer larvae are C-shaped and whitish in color, hence their name “grubs”. During the larval stage, their heads are brownish and their bodies vary in size. Once fully developed, grubs measure between 1.25 and 2.5 cm in length.
When do white grubs appear?
The life cycle of these insects begins when the female deposits her eggs in the soil in summer, leading to an infestation of hungry larvae ready to attack your lawn as soon as they hatch. The timing of grubs’ appearance is intimately linked to their life cycle, which is why our agronomists’ expertise is invaluable to lawn owners!
Eggs are laid in June or July, and the larvae emerge in August, feeding avidly until autumn. With the arrival of cold weather, they go dormant, burrowing into the earth to a depth where frost cannot reach them. In spring, they reappear, continuing to feed before becoming adults. This season is crucial for the diagnosis and preventive treatment of pests.
1. Young chafer larvae feed on grass roots
Beetle and Japanese beetle larvae consume grass roots, robbing the grass of its ability to draw water and essential nutrients. This inevitably leads to yellow patches and brown spots on the turf, harbingers of more serious damage.
2. Grubs attract pests such as raccoons and skunks, which burrow into your lawn.
The presence of these grubs in your soil attracts a variety of predators, including mammals such as raccoons, skunks, and birds like crows, which further damage the turf by digging for the larvae buried beneath the lawn.
The presence of these pests is indicated by the appearance of weakened areas in your lawn, where the grass easily detaches from the soil (due to root destruction). The increased presence of foraging animals and discolored grass patches are clear indicators of infestation.
How to get rid of white grubs?
There are a number of best practices for dealing with grubs:
- Maintain a good mowing height, practice proper watering (water regularly but not excessively) and use appropriate fertilizers.
- Introducing nematodes (natural predators of larvae) into the soil is an effective preventive and ecological solution.
- Avoiding excessive use of outdoor lights during the adult cockchafer egg-laying period can reduce the risk of infestation.
- Annual aeration of your lawn can help water penetrate the soil, encouraging plant roots to grow deeper.
We use selective, environmentally friendly insecticides designed to minimize damage to non-target plants. The result is a rapid improvement in the health of your lawn. These treatments are precision-applied by our lawn care experts to maximize their effectiveness while protecting your garden’s ecosystem.
We prefer environmentally-friendly products, opting for solutions that promote biodiversity when treating white grubs. We opt for insecticides with a long-lasting repellent effect, while ensuring the safety of nearby plants, animals and humans. This approach to preventing and controlling insect pests underlines the importance we place at cVert on enlightened and responsible lawn care!
Warning: although we use a safe product, we recommend that pet owners keep their pets away from treated grass for 24 hours!
European cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha)
Present in Quebec, these 25-30 mm long beetles have larvae that damage plant roots over 3-4 years. Dark brown to black adults.
Common beetle (Phyllopertha horticola)
Smaller (12-15 mm), reddish-brown with green or black wings. Larvae attack plant roots, life cycle of about one year.
Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica)
Invasive pest in the USA and Canada, 8-11 mm, metallic green elytra, coppery sides. Feeds on over 300 plant species, larvae destroy lawns.
