Try a little scouting first. Cut a hunk of turf 1 sq ft. and peel it back, like laying sod in reverse. Count your grubs. If you're in the neighborhood of 6-8 per square foot then you don't need an application of anything assuming your lawn is healthy. Having grubs present isn't the same as needing any product to deal with them.

And yes the cut turf will survive.

If you are concerned about using the insecticide, you may want to do an internet search for "beneficial nematodes". The organic way to control grubs.

Thanks Decklap, but there is no scouting to do now - if I had grubs last year (which I doubt since I had killed off my old lawn when they would have been feeding heavy and I don't think they would have made it - they should be gone and flying around by now anyway. Next opportunity for scouting would be early September, in which case, if I have them, I would need to use Dylox or something even worse, which I really don't want to do. I would rather use Imidacloprid as a preventative than Dylox for anything, for the sake of saving at least some of my earthworms.

Joepyeweed, if I had never had a lawn completely destroyed by grubs I would give the nematodes a shot. I still may do so someday, but am just not there yet. The problems I have read about unreliable product/packaging/whatever are just too scary for me right now, with my brand new lawn and recent memories of massive grub damage.

Well if you don't have visible grubs at an infestation threshold then you've got your answer for now at least.
And nematodes will absolutely rock the @$%%** out of any grub's world. Reputable dealers abound. I've never gotten a shipment that didn't work immediately and I've purchased form many many sources.

C'mon Decklap, you must know the life cycle of grubs, and so must be aware of the fact that last year's grubs are, just recently, this year's beetles, and gone from the soil, so there is no point in looking for them there now. And that my next round of grubs won't be hatching until August, and won't be observable until September at the earliest. And that if I wait that long, and it turns out that they are here in high numbers, I will have to resort to truly toxic methods to kill them, which I am trying to avoid.

I appreciate your review of nematode products, I've just read too much to the contrary.

I've had great success with the nematodes also. Two years ago, we started to show some grub damage in a few small patches. And my neighbors on both sides at the same time had massive grub damage. The following spring, I applied the nematodes and had zero grub damage in the summer. My neighbors using chems have shown improvement, but still have a problem.

I applied more nematodes this spring too, expecting the same results.

paul it depends entirely on where you live and what kind of grub you're looking for to scout effectively. JBG and Masked Chafer don't always overlap and Black Ataenius can be timed differently too. So the point being you look before you leap regardless of when you leap. Don't apply anything without a grub count 'cause its just a waste of money.

Nematodes kill.