lawn care technician with granular spreader in lawn 2

Grub Control Basics: How to Spot Grub Damage & Ways Your Lawn Can Recover

Have you heard of lawn grubs?

Unless they have caused serious damage to your lawn, you may not have. It’s best to avoid encountering these pests, as they are not only disgusting but also quite sneaky.

What makes them so tricky? They damage your lawn mostly underground, so you often don’t notice their attack until it’s too late.

In fact, your grass can look just fine, while grubs are eating away at the roots beneath.

Grub damage in lawns not only ruins the appearance of your grass over time, but it also disrupts the flow of essential water and nutrients to your lawn. This hinders your grass's ability to survive and flourish, which is counterproductive.

Pretty mean, right?

Grub (CC)

Since grubs can devastate your lawn in Tupelo, Corinth & across North Mississippi, let’s discuss how to identify lawn grubs, lawn grub treatment, and professional grub control so you can better understand how to prevent and control these pests and restore your lawn to its lush, green state.

Lawn Grub Control in North MS

Lawn grub treatment begins with answering some basic but important questions about these voracious and hungry pests.

First, understand that grubs are actually the larval stage of adult beetles, such as Japanese beetles and June bugs. They are usually white and C-shaped.

Read Our Guide to Lawn Care in North Mississippi

Here, we’ll talk about common signs of grub damage in lawns.

Adult Beetles

To identify lawn grubs, look for adult beetles such as Japanese beetles crawling on your roses or other plants. Their presence indicates that they may be laying eggs nearby in your grass.

These eggs hatch into white grubs that feed on your lawn throughout the summer and into fall.

Japanese Beetle (Popillia_japonica) CC

As the temperature drops before winter, grubs dig deeper into the soil. Come spring, they start feeding on your lawn roots again until they emerge as adult beetles in late spring.

A Weak Lawn

If your grass is underperforming, that could be a sign of grub damage in lawns.

For instance, if you notice in May that your grass has brown or yellow spots, dead patches, or discoloration, you might have a grub problem.

A Disconnected Lawn

Identifying lawn grubs can involve noticing a soft, squishy feeling when walking on your lawn.

Additionally, if you attempt to lift your lawn, it might feel loose or disconnected from the soil, indicating that the roots have been damaged by the grubs, severing their connection to the grass above.

Animals Digging In Your Lawn

Another sign of grub damage in lawns is the presence of wild animals, such as raccoons, moles, skunks, and others, digging up your lawn.

crow tearing up a lawn to feed on grubs (CC)

Grubs happen to be pretty juicy protein nuggets for these animals, so they excavate your lawn with their paws and claws to reach these snacks.

How Can I Control Grubs?

Now that you understand how grubs function and what grub damage looks like in lawns, the next step is to eliminate them before they cause more harm to your grass.

In Tupelo, Corinth, and across North Mississippi, almost everyone has some grubs — unfortunately. We regret to inform you of this, but the good news is that there are options available to deal with these pests, regardless of the infestation level.

Firstly, timing is crucial in grub control; early identification can lead to less damage and more effective management. Therefore, prevention is the most effective strategy. Incorporating grub control into a comprehensive, proactive lawn care plan is the best way to manage these pests.


At Lawn & Pest Solutions, we employ an integrated pest management approach, which involves inspecting your lawn for pest problems and recommending targeted applications as needed, or during periods of peak insect pressure, such as when grubs are most active.

We also provide other lawn care services, such as fertilization and weed control, that can enhance your lawn’s health and help recover from grub damage. While we’re on your property taking care of your grass, our trained technicians can monitor for grubs to ensure they aren’t lingering in your lawn.

Want to Kick Grubs to the Curb? Let Lawn & Pest Solutions Help

The last thing you want to see is a lawn that has bare spots, yellow areas, sections that pull up easily, and animals digging around causing additional embarrassing blemishes.

Grubs can bring the worst kinds of damage, and if you let them get out of control, they just keep going, showing no signs of letting up.

The last thing you need is to spend countless hours relying on usually unreliable DIY grub control methods, repairing lawn damage, and never finding any lasting relief or improvement.

Eliminating grubs permanently means trusting professional grub control services in Tupelo, Oxford & New Albany, MS, to stay ahead of the problem and deliver effective solutions that save you money, time, and headaches. Get back to the lawn you love and let us help you tackle your grub problem.

Ready to learn why Lawn & Pest Solutions could be your choice for professional grub control services in North Mississippi? We’re excited to learn more about you and help you have the best lawn on the block. Get started today with a free quote. Together, we can prepare a customized plan that is perfect for you and your lawn. 

Image Source | Grub, Crow Feeding on Lawn Grubs, Japanese Beetle

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