The No-Lawn Approach

The front yard that came with the house we bought five years ago was mostly a patchy lawn bordered by some nice irises, tulips, baptisia (blue false indigo) and sedum. Grubs infested the lawn (I later learned), so after having a hard time maintaining it, I gradually eliminated it over the course of the past three years.

It's like this: monocultures (growing the same plant in the same place year after year) encourages infestations, while growing more diverse species doesn't.

With no lawn and the help of something called Milky Spore (a microbial parasite that kills grubs), I no longer have a grub problem.