Aeratorman.com has seen a lot of birds pulling up lawns in our clients’ yards. This isn’t a new thing, but it seems to be more prevalent this year. Birds are lighting on lawns and pulling divets out, creating a hot mess! Check out this craziness caught on video –

Most likely the birds are eating lawn grubs that feed on your lawn’s roots. This is strange to us because drought usually makes lawn soils less suitable for grub parents to lay eggs in. Grubs are a natural part of your lawn’s ecosystem, but can easily get out of control and wreak a lot of damage. Once you have an overpopulation of grubs, then your lawn can get brown spots and attract pests like birds, raccoons, moles, voles and skunks.

So what’s to do?
1. Late summer and early fall is the best time to treat your lawn with a grub control chemical, since the grubs are just juveniles. Be sure to get a product with an ‘on-contact’ chemical with a time-release option as well.
Follow instructions carefully.
2. If you don’t like using chemicals on your lawn, you can get more info here – http://homeguides.sfgate.com/natural-way-rid-grass-grub-worms-66190.html
3. Grubs generally love moist areas and can take a foothold and grow from there. Check your irrigation systems regularly for leaks and overspray.
4. Grubs also love a spongy, thatch-ridden lawn. Thatch is the dead grass build up under healthier grass. It not only creates great shelter for lawn pests, but it also robs healthy lawn of water. Have your lawn de-thatched with a pro grade de-thatcher at least once a year.

Lawns get a lot of bad press as water-suckers. But what’s never talked about is how your lawn gives back to you by cooling your landscape, providing a haven for helpful insects and giving us oxygen. So, it’s worth the effort.

As always, Aeratorman.com can help with grub issues, or anything else having to do with your lawn and landscape. We’ve been doing it for over 25 years and are proud to be known as our local lawn & yard care experts!