Q. My lawn has thin and dead areas where the grass that is alive pulls up easily and the roots are stubby or black looking and the grass around the area is yellow. Is this grubs and what do I use to get rid of them?
A. What you describe is more a symptom of a fungus than grubs. Grubs eat the roots off and the grass will pull up, but generally just looks bad with a mixture of yellow/green and brown color to the areas. Dig carefully in the area and if you find more than 3 or 4 grubs in a 12 inch by 12 inch square area then you have a problem, one or two is not a serious problem I would treat the areas and if possible the whole lawn around the areas with a systemic fungicide. Treat heavy and do not try to be stingy or do a light treatment to save money you will be wasting your money. Follow all directions on the product label.