Couple of questions about treating a yard for grubs?...Customers are wanting to know?

1) What are the products to use?

2) Are they good?

2) Cost for them?

3) What about cost to do the yard(so much per foot? What to charge?

4) Any other license needed?

Ty

If Ohio is like most a treatment for grubs is a pesticide treatment and can be done by the homeowner but if done for hire a PCO license is required and if like Georgia PCO is divided into categories and here it would be ornamental and turf.
Treating for grubs alone is not likely to resolve a mole issue as moles much prefer earthworms to all others and you really don't want to kill your earthworms and to do so would really require some pretty toxic measures. Treatment for grubs may help and would certainly favor the grass if the grubs are of the type that damage grass but not the answer for moles.

A smart businessman (without a PCO license) would keep the focus on the moles tunneling in their yards and stick with just mole trapping because its most effective treating the real problem the moles.

It would probably cost them more in pesticide treatments if they hired a company to kill the grubs forever and ever ; then to hire you to trap their moles on a as needed basis . IMO


What about the earthworms because Moles eat them too. I am not a big fan of poisoning the soil unless you have a bad problem (above) and then just by the label.

Many over the counter lawn granule products are rated for killing grubs ?? Your customers can do this themselves or hire a pc company who have better products to target the problem.

Pest control operators have a product called Talprid that look like little plastic worms that has some success & effectiveness in killing the moles -not the grubs.

Most home owner believe that mole only eat grubs. I have had home owners ask me about Talprid and if it works. I tell them out right, I do not know because you never find the moles. I tell them I will gladly leave the moles I trap in there yard. This is a big sell point in getting a new job.
I had one guy say that the Talprid worm was the best thing since apple pie. I ask him when he put the worms in the ground, he said about the second week in June. He said he did not have anymore runs after the first week in July. July (hot&dry) Third week in Sept. the runs started agan. Cooler&Wet.
Took 5 moles out of his yard. He wants me to check with him in the spring.

Everet, that has been my experience here. I can predict ahead of time that mole activity will be seasonal based on our rainy seasons. If I were to time applications of talpirid or fairy dust for that matter in accordance with the rain I too could claim success.

If your customers are asking about grub control, they haven't had mole problems long enough yet, or they haven't tried grub control or any other product applied to the ground. Give 'em a couple years and after they waste a bunch of time and money, they'll call you to solve the problem.

At least half of my mole customers already tried every mythical remedy and store-bought gimmick available, including many who spent in excess of 3 thousand dollars over a couple years on various lawn treatments (including grub control). Grub control controls grubs. Period. Not moles. Good for your lawn, but not good for moles.

One property I did a few years ago was treated for 4 years by a large lawn care company, and the owner had spent about $2500 with that company during that period. Still had extensive mole activity, as the grub control and other chemical approaches did nothing. I caught 21 moles (3 acres) in the first 3 days (it was late spring with young present) and the damage STOPPED. That guy got me more customers than any advertising could possibly do. Still customers to this day, but usually only takes a short spring program and maybe one late summer program to eliminate mole damage.

Exactly why some of the methods SEEM to work. The natural behavior patterns of the moles coincides with the application, giving the false impression that it worked. Just like people who pour fox urine, moth balls, glass fragments, or whatever else their coffee-shop "expert" told them to try. The moles followed the food source and left on their own (temporarily)... had nothing to do with the fox pee.

Ron, you are 100% right.

If you really dig around and look, you'll find that most yards with mole problems don't even have grubs. The assumption that there must be grubs because there are moles is usually wrong.

If there are grubs in a yard, it's probably a good idea to treat for them, as they are a pest of the lawn, and they can cause raccoons and other animals to tear up the lawn digging them out, but don't expect grub treatment to help with a mole problem, as the moles are mostly eating earthworms.

Grub control for moles is really a way for traditional pest control companies that are oriented towards chemical applications to offer a service for moles, without having to learn to trap and without having to make repeat visits to trap. It's basically just another rip off.

X2, In a previous life I managed a hardware store with a full blown lawn and garden department. Customers always thought that by getting rid of the grubs that they would solve their mole issues. Most would not listen when you told them that it would have no impact at all. Grub control is exactly that.. grub control, help save your grass and yes maybe keep skunks from digging and deciding to set up residence.

IMO, grub treatment don't work. Talpirid don't work. As an above poster said, it's a feel-good service for those who don't know how to trap 'em. Trapping WORKS.