How do we control white grubs in our HOA's common area turf?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised October 29, 2026

How an HOA board confirms white grubs, counts per square foot, times preventive or curative treatment, and hires a licensed applicator in TX, FL and CO.

Part of the HOA board handbook: vendors, projects and upkeep.

The short answer

Dig before you spray. Brown patches in common turf are often blamed on grubs when the real cause is drought, chinch bugs or a disease such as take-all patch. Texas A&M AgriLife says finding more than five white grubs per square foot justifies treatment, and that turf showing no damage needs no treatment even with grubs present. The same publication cites Cornell University studies suggesting up to 70 percent of white grub lawn treatments are unnecessary. If the count is high, the timing decides whether the money works. Preventive products go down in late spring or early summer, before the grubs grow past half an inch. Once large grubs are chewing roots in late summer, only a few short-lived curative products help, and the turf is already damaged. In Texas, Florida and Colorado, hire a licensed applicator for HOA land, and keep the count sheets with the invoice. Rules vary by state and by your governing documents. This guide is general education, not legal or agronomic advice for your site.

Confirm it is grubs

White grubs are the C-shaped, creamy white larvae of May and June beetles and chafers. Texas A&M lists the June beetle, Phyllophaga crinita, and the southern masked chafer, Cyclocephala lurida, as the main turf pests in Texas. Colorado State University says only a few grub species hurt turf and most feed on decaying plant material. Grubs in mulch, compost or flower beds are usually decomposers, so count only in turf. How to sample, using the extension methods: - Pick spots at the edge of a yellow or thin patch, plus a few healthy-looking areas for comparison. - UF/IFAS suggests cutting about 2 inches into the turf on three sides of a one-foot square and folding the flap back. If the sod lifts easily with few roots and grubs sit on the exposed soil, they are the likely cause. - Texas A&M says to examine soil sections at least 3 to 4 inches across and 4 inches deep, deeper in sandy soil, taking up to one square foot of samples per 1,000 square feet, scattered across the area. - Record the count per square foot, the grub size and the location on a site map. Signs that point the same way: sod that rolls up like carpet, and skunks, raccoons or armadillos tearing up the lawn at night. Our guide on stopping armadillos digging up HOA common areas covers that second problem.

Learn the beetle calendar

Most turf grubs in Texas finish their life cycle in one year. Adults fly at night in late spring and summer, often after rain or irrigation, and mated females dig 2 to 5 inches into the soil to lay eggs. Texas A&M says eggs hatch in about two weeks, the first two larval stages take about three weeks each, and the third and largest stage does most of the damage, usually showing between June and October. When the weather cools, grubs go dormant and stop feeding. That calendar explains which treatments fail. Texas A&M says spring and winter treatments for one-year grubs do not prevent damage, and treatments during the spring pupal stage are both ineffective and unnecessary. A separate Texas A&M fact sheet puts the ideal window in June for South Texas and early July for North Texas, after the mating flights end. Colorado's main turf grubs differ. CSU names masked chafers as the grubs most often damaging turf along the Arkansas Valley, South Platte and West Slope, and Japanese beetle has spread along the Front Range. CSU's advice for every species is the same: treat around egg hatch, while grubs are young. UF/IFAS describes grubs as a sporadic turf problem in Florida, with major damage usually in late summer to early fall, and refers boards to the county extension office for timing and products.

Choose preventive or curative on purpose

Preventive treatment. Texas A&M names imidacloprid and chlorantraniliprole as preventive active ingredients, applied from early spring through early summer before grubs reach half an inch, and watered into the soil. Use it on a field or entry lawn with a documented history of grub damage. Texas A&M says routine yearly preventive applications without that history are not recommended and may cause more problems than they solve. Curative treatment. Where damage already shows and large grubs are present, Texas A&M points to trichlorfon or carbaryl, which have short residual activity. Irrigate before applying to pull grubs toward the surface. Water matters for both. A Texas A&M turf fact sheet calls for a quarter to half inch of water the day before treating dry soil, and half to one inch right after a liquid product. Granular products do not control anything until watered in. Heavy thatch binds many pesticides, so dethatch or aerate first, and do not treat just before a heavy storm. Nonchemical options. Insect-parasitic nematodes in the genera Steinernema and Heterorhabditis attack grubs. They need moist soil, and CSU says soil must be at least 50 degrees for Heterorhabditis bacteriophora to work. Texas A&M says milky spore disease has not been shown to work against Texas turf grubs. Protect bees. CSU advises mowing off blooming dandelions, clover and other flowering weeds before any insecticide goes down.

Licensing and notice in Texas, Florida and Colorado

Texas. Occupations Code section 1951.003 counts identifying and treating pests of plantings adjacent to a residence or in a park, for pay, as the business of structural pest control, and section 1951.301 requires a business license from the Texas Department of Agriculture. The section 1951.051 exemption covers an individual working on premises they own, or an employer's premises when they were hired mainly for other work. A volunteer treating association turf does not clearly fit either, so use a licensed company. Florida. Section 482.071 requires a pest control business license from FDACS. The limited landscape maintenance certification in section 482.156 covers herbicides in beds, driveways, sidewalks and patios and pest management on ornamental plants with handheld gear, not insecticide on turf. Under section 482.2265, the applicator must post a weatherproof sign of at least 4 by 5 inches when treating a lawn and, on request, give the customer the product name, active ingredient and label safety information. Colorado. A commercial applicator business must carry at least $400,000 in liability insurance under C.R.S. 35-10-106 and keep records of each application for three years under 35-10-111. Before a turf application, section 35-10-112(1)(c) requires reasonable notice to anyone on the state pesticide-sensitive registry who lists the property, lives on abutting property, or lives in a multiunit building abutting a treated common area. Ask the contractor how they check the registry.

Write the contractor scope

Ask for these in every bid so the numbers compare: - A grub count by area before any curative treatment, with photos of the samples. - Product name, active ingredient, rate and label, and whether it is preventive or curative. - Irrigation instructions before and after, written so the irrigation tech or volunteer can follow them. - No-spray buffers next to ponds, creeks and storm drain inlets, as the label requires. - The license number, certificate of insurance naming the association, and, in Colorado, confirmation of the registry check. - A follow-up count in late summer and a written result. Motion the board can adapt: "Move to approve [contractor] to sample common turf at [locations] for white grubs in [month] for $[amount], and to treat only areas with counts above five per square foot, at a cost not to exceed $[amount]." Our guide on hiring an HOA landscaping contractor covers bids and insurance in more detail.

A sample year for a Texas community

April: walk the property and mark last year's damaged areas on the site map. May to June: watch for beetle flights at the clubhouse lights and confirm the contractor's start date. June in South Texas or early July in North Texas: apply preventive product only on areas with a history of damage, then irrigate. Late July to August: sample turf edges and count grubs. Treat curatively only where counts top five per square foot and damage shows. September to October: keep soil moist so damaged turf can root again; Texas A&M says turf usually recovers by fall or the next spring. November: file the counts, invoices and application records with the board minutes. Colorado and Florida boards should get local timing from the county extension office.

Mistakes boards make

- Approving a blanket grub treatment on every acre because one owner saw beetles at the porch light. Texas A&M says several scarab species that swarm lights between March and June never damage turf. - Spraying in March or April, when grubs are dormant or pupating. - Running sprinklers hard all summer. CSU says wet soil at egg-laying favors grubs and periodic drying cuts survival, and UF/IFAS warns that over-irrigated turf can draw egg-laying females. - Treating grubs to get rid of moles. Our guide on moles and pocket gophers explains why that rarely works. - Letting a volunteer spread insecticide on common turf without checking state licensing rules. - Skipping the follow-up count, so nobody knows whether the money did anything.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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