Grubs in the Vegetable Garden

Encourage natural enemies:

Certain species of wasps parasitize white grubs. They are sometimes seen hovering over the garden in late summer in search of green June beetle grubs on which to lay their eggs. They are not aggressive and normally will not sting people. The wasp larva feeds externally upon the grub, eventually killing its victim before spinning a fuzzy, brown, jelly bean-size cocoon in the soil. Predators such as ground beetles and ants also take their toll on eggs and young white grubs.

Managing your garden to minimize damage:

Japanese beetles are fond of certain plants such as bracken, elder, multiflora rose, Indian mallow, sassafras, poison ivy, smartweed, wild fox grape and wild summer grape. By weeding these plants out of your garden, you can minimize the habitat for them. Encourage certain birds to help you keep grub populations low. Many kinds of birds such as bobwhites, eastern kingbirds, crows, European starlings, redwinged blackbirds, catbirds, songsparrows, robins and grackles eat Japanese beetles.

Resources:

Ohio State FactSheet http://ohioline.ag.ohio-state.edu/~ohiol... Good description of Japanese beetle grubs

Ontario Ministry of Agriculture - Japanese Grubs in Nursery & Turf http://www.gov.on.ca/OMAFRA/english/crop...

Terra Viva Organics http://www.tvorganics.com Source of predatory nematodes on-line.

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