Focus — Pest ID - Diagnosis, Care, Prevention
Getting After Grubs – Chemically or Naturally? In the battle to vanquish grubs, landscape care professionals express viewpoints about effectiveness and environmental desirability of methods. By Barbara Dutton
Sustainability
, efficiency, and customer preference guide philosophies and, in turn, business models to support grub control services. The Landscape Contractor presents perspectives relative to considering differing approaches to subduing grubs – specifically grub larvae, which can attract foraging animals that by digging for food can ruin patches of lawn – specifically grass roots. Offering only “eco-friendly, chemical-free, 100% organic lawn care,” Dig Right In Landscaping, based in Westchester, Ill., advertises its exclusive Back-to-Nature Lawn Care Program, which takes an organic approach to grub control. According to company owner Jeff Swano, “a cornerstone” of his organization’s approach Jeff Swano It’s all fun on top of the grass, but what lurks below? to lawn care is to “understand the science behind it all.” When it comes to grubs and other lawn insects, he explains, this means “knowing what their reproduction and lifecycle is.” This knowledge, according to Swano, has led him to use “beneficial nematodes” – or microscopic organisms that eat larvae – to tackle a host of predatory insects, not just grubs. “We put them down, they go in 10 The Landscape Contractor June 2016
hungry and they get right to work eating on harmful insect larvae,” he says. “It’s pretty cool and is payback to grubs.” Using traditional chemicals to fight grubs, he continues, “is antithetical to our way of doing business.” Swano is concerned that chemical-based grub control, used for what he calls “an unethical in pursuit of grub-free lawns,” works by having plants take up grub poison, which is then ingested by insects feeding on turf grass and in turn passed along to other life via the food chain. What else might eat turf grass?” he asks, citing a potential chemical threat – known as bioaccumulation – to birds and mammals, including children. “Squirrels and raccoons will also eat grubs, so you’re poisoning the environment while poisoning the grubs.” An adamant customer Advocating an organic response to grub concerns, Swano endorses “keeping nature in check instead of grabbing the chemical bottle.” “We’re seeing the marketplace demanding less chemical use,” he relates, “because customers are becoming more educated and want to reduce their exposure to toxic chemicals.” After addressing a pest problem and employing techniques to bring an injured lawn up to good condition, Swano asserts that (continued on page 12)