You need to spray beneficial nematodes in your yard and beds, they get rid of grubs, ants, feas, and ticks. My husband just sprayed 18 million on our yard at the coast last Saturday. You buy them at the feed store. He is taking down more this week for our neighbors, you cannot buy them in Rockport. Barbra,

Barbra, do the nematodes bother earth worms?
Jim

Jim, I found this on the internet.
Beneficial nematodes are naturally occurring organisms and are not harmful to humans, pets, wildlife, birds, soil, earthworms, water sources or the atmosphere. Nematodes migrate through the soil finding insect larvae by detecting either a slight increase in temperature or release of methane gas. The infective juvenile nematodes enter the larvae and release a symbiotic bacteria that within days, kills the host. The nematodes feed on the bacteria and the decomposed host tissue where they reproduce until numbers drive them out to find a new host. These Nematodes are effective against over 250 species of pest insects including FLEA LARVAE. In field crops they infect and kill caterpillars, cutworms, grubs, root worms, wire worms, sod web worms and other pests. For greenhouses they are particularly effective against fungus gnats, and aid in the control of pupating thrips in the soil. Orchard pest control is enhanced against codling moth and Lepidopteran pests, including those that bore into tree bark or are in the soil during various stages of their life cycle. For turf and lawns, nematodes are particularly effective against cranefly larva, June bug larva and other turf damaging grubs.

It's too late to save any of your plants. Grubs actively feed from late June when they hatch until cool weather arrives. Then they eat almost nothing while they go dormant all winter and metamorph in the spring.

The best time to interrupt their cycle is around July. That's about when the grubs hatch and begin their long feeding. You can spray nematodes or something safe then. If you spray when they aren't active it won't be as effective.

If you want to educate your kids try collecting them in a jar with some dirt and monitor their transformation. May be a fun science expirement...

Here is a link that might be useful: White Grubs in Texas Turfgrass

I listen to Bob Webster who owns Shades of Green, he has a gardening talk show on Sunday morning from 8am to 10am, he said the best time to spay them is the first sign of June bugs. Barbra,

What does a shot of nematodes run? I have a acre or so I would like to treat. What is the coverage?

Jim

Ps. The Banyan trees are about ready.

Jim, I checked with Gary, and you can get 6 million for $48, or 1 million for $9.99. We put 18 million on our place. He had the guy at the feed store figure it, but after reading more about them, I think we needed more. This is our first year doing this, we had to do something about the grubs( moles), and the fire ants, over running our yard. Barbra,

ok, all my plants are going to die?!?!?!? i've had grubs for at least three years, same level of infestation. used to find them a lot more in the lawn, this year more in the beds. i know they will eat everything, isn't there something, even a chemical that i can till in, will the beneficial nematoads still work? what does that mean? too late to save your plants? :(

Sorry for the dramatics. What I meant is the grubs have done all the damage they are going to do this season. They feed from the time they are hatched (June/July) to the time winter temperatures set in. Your plants are either going to be just fine or they've already had too much of their roots munched off. Killing or not killing the grubs won't change that. They've already finished eating and are sitting on the couch scratching their buts and watching TV (or whatever grubs do while they are dormant) waiting to turn into junebugs.

Mark July on your calender and when the fireworks go off and the junebugs are flying frisky, get online and order some nematodes. Then spray them according to the directions on the package. You want to spray right around when they hatch.

Last year I had several young oak and pecan trees completely defoliated by June beetles. What can the trees be treated with once the beetles are flying? Would Sevin dust work?