Pest infests Bangor lawns

Many homeowners in the Bangor area are seeing brown instead of green this spring thanks to an invasive pest that is ruining even the most well-manicured lawns and is attracting other unwelcome guests.

And experts say that, unfortunately, there is no easy or quick fix to the lawn-killing infestation.

Lawn jockeys, landscapers and pest-control specialists report that grub worms have infested grassy areas throughout central and southern Maine, with the Bangor region and coastal areas bearing the brunt of the bugs’ wrath.

“In Bangor, it’s a real infestation and a real problem,” said homeowner Clyde Folsom. “Half of my side lawn is gone, and every house on my street has been infested.”

Grub worms are the larvae of three types of invasive and pesky beetles: the well-known Japanese beetle and the lesser-known but fairly widespread European and northern masked chafer beetles, both of which resemble common June beetles.

All three beetles lay their eggs in the soil during the summer. Those eggs soon hatch into small grubs that spend the next several months devouring grass roots. The larvae then spend the winter deeper in the soil and resume feeding in the spring before emerging as adult beetles in early summer.

Jim Dill, pest management specialist at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension in Orono, said the patches of dead grass many homeowners and businesses are finding this spring are actually the remnants of an infestation last year.

A week or two of solid, below-zero temperatures usually helps keep populations of these beetles in check in Maine, Dill said. But this past winter was relatively mild temperaturewise, and the early snow helped insulate the ground.

“So the grubs survived very well,” Dill said. “Fast-forward to the spring. The grass is trying to grow but the problem is the roots aren’t there because they’ve all been chomped off.”

The result is large patches of dead and dying grass throughout the region. And if brown grass wasn’t bad enough, skunks and crows make it even worse aesthetically by tearing up lawns in search of the fat, protein-rich grubs.

So what is a homeowner to do? That depends on whom you ask.

Alan Peters with NaturalLawn of America in Hampden said that, unfortunately, homeowners need to apply an insecticide to kill the grub worms. Re-seeding and then watering the lawn during the summer, especially in late July and August, will also help prevent another crop of beetles.

“You have got to treat them,” Peters said. “If you don’t get rid of them now, they are going to be back unless we have a very wet summer.”

But the Cooperative Extension’s official recommendation is treat in the late summer and early fall, when grubs are small and more susceptible to insecticides for the greatest effect.

Dill said the large, whitish grubs readily found under the soil now are fully grown so insecticides are less effective, meaning it will take more of the costly chemicals to have an impact. Besides, the damage to the grass was done last year and earlier this spring, he said.

“You can kill some of them, but you can’t kill a lot of them,” Dill said. “So you might as well wait.”

Those who prefer to avoid insecticides can purchase a type of tiny worm known as a nematode that is a natural parasite to grubs. Nematodes can also be applied in late July or thereafter to target the small grubs, Dill said. But they cost more and are often less effective than insecticides, he said.

Milky spore, which is often sold as a remedy for grubs, is not effective in Maine’s colder climate, Dill said.

Groundskeepers at Bangor’s Mount Hope Cemetery aren’t waiting to treat their grass.

Cemetery superintendent Stephen Burrill said the grubs are “devastating” large areas, especially where the grass tends to be drier. Last Thursday and Friday alone, cemetery crews went through five or six truckloads of hydroseed as they raked up the dead grass, re-seeded and then treated the area.

Burrill said he has one crew of workers whose sole job right now is fighting grubs.

“Every day I come in there’s a new area,” Burrill said. “It’s a costly application. But until we get a cold winter, the problem is not going to go away.”

Not far away on Essex Street, Folsom ripped up several chunks of dead grass in his yard with an easy pull of his rake. Underneath each clump of turf lay a handful of fat, white grubs that squirmed in the bright May sun.

Frustrated by the conflicting advice he has received, Folsom said he has not decided how to attack his grub problem. But he knows it won’t be cheap no matter what course he takes.

“I tell you it’s discouraging because I really try to take care of my lawn,” said Folsom, a retiree and writer. “I treated this last summer and you can see what good it did.”

kmiller@bangordailynews.net

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