Question
QUESTION: Evening LI, I have a strip of grass along a new cement sidewalk that is mostly weeds. There are tiny white insect worms which might be "grubs" but as I am not a landscaper I cannot be sure. I noticed them when mowing this section of the yard last weekend, we were just pulling out the weeds and there were maybe for each square foot 25 or more of these tiny curled gray and oyster colored worms the size of my thumbnail, not microscopic but little. Sorry I can't put this more scientifically!  We checked a few other places where there is grass (this sidewalk went down in the spring and the soil was all new but it was too late to put down seed so I figured we'll do it in the fall, right?).  The old grass, which was not disturbed during this cement installatino process, is pretty healthy and strangely I did not see any grubs/worms there at all. Mind you we have not been great about the grass but at the same time we don't use any chemicals except for maybe superphosphate for the roots and milorganite once a year.  I mow really often (per your "mow mow mow your lawn" suggestion) and it looks decent enough. But these worms are really freaking me out. Would the weeds attract them? Does cement attract them? Is there any reason you can explain this trend?  Thanks in advance.

ANSWER: You have an interesting situation.  Your older established Lawn is Grub-free.  The newer Soil, with Weeds, has a Grub epidemic.  Assuming these are Grubs -- which FYI are Beetle larvae that eat Grass roots -- there is a perfectly logical explanation for what you have observed.  Please confirm the Grubs i.d. with this page at the Ohio State Agricultural School website:

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2500.html

In established ecosystems, where Soil lies undisturbed for long periods of time, there is plenty of time for natural defenses to reach a balance.  Fact is, in real life, for a Grub the world is a dangerous place.  Left to balance itself out, the older Soil keeps the Grubs population under control.

But if you bring in new Soil, topsoil or some other kind of dirt, it is quite sterile as far as microbes.  It is often packed with dormant Weed seeds just waiting for Water and Light to germinate.  The fluorishing Grub population owes nothing to the Cement or the Weeds.  Fact is, there is nothing down there to deal with these Grubs.

In time, I expect these Grubs will be increasingly miserable and scarce.  They are only inches away from all the things that can go wrong -- millions of Nematodes, rodents including Skunks, Racoons and Moles, parasitic Wasps, Garter Snakes, Birds, even something as simple as very dry, dusty Soil.  Trust me, their days are numbered.  Meantime, watch your local Birds have a field day meeting up for Breakfast every morning on our sidewalk; reservations will be required.

Thanks for writing.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I am tempted to put down Grub Pellets, do you see any potential damage with these, or would you say they are relatively safe?  Thanks by the way for your quick response.

Answer
Ever hear of Silent Spring?

You want to use Grubs B Gone etc?  'Bird Killer' is a good name for this stuff.  I think you may be mixing these up with Snail Pellets, another anti-avian product that certain people have no problem with.  I personally do have a big problem with Bird Killer, my friend.  Besides, there are so many other choices, and none of them are bad for anyone except maybe the Grubs.  Why not give them a try?  They are unfamiliar, sure, but so was MacDonalds before you ate there the first time, right?  You remember your first MacDonalds hamburger?  Same thing.  And NO, they ARE NOT SAFE.

It's too late to go into the gory details but if you would like I'll elaborate on another day.

Say NO to Grub Killer aka Bird Killer.  Get with the program.  Please!

Thanks for writing.