My neighbor (and several others) had them this year (Vancouver WA) and they seem to be worse than prior years. The raccoons and crows found them just as the lawn was showing the tell tale signs of dying sod and did a real number on his lawn. About the only thing you can do is to put down grub control and be sure to rake the affected areas well as the lawn roots are probably gone around that area. Then re-seed the dying patches. It may be too late in the season to seed now so that may need to wait until Spring. I have no lawn anymore so not an issue for us.

Have you confirmed that the damage as been caused by grubs? Virtually the only lawn grub issues experienced in the PNW are those caused by crane flies. Japanese beetles or chafers have a minimal presence here. And whether or not any treatment is required is dependent on monitoring grub populations. You do this by cutting a 12" b 12" b 12" three sided flap of lawn and peeling it back to expose the roots and then counting the number of grubs you find. If more than 25 grubs are exposed in this 1 foot square section, then treatment is advised.....any less than that, NO treatment is suggested.

Crane fly control

It’s definitely grubs. We can see them when we pull back grass

My son is in North Van and he does aerate his lawn and tries to keep it healthy. The other thing he does is in the spring he lays down tarps on his lawn every night for probably a month and then picks it up in the morning. The procedure also includes watering the lawn every evening before doing this but in North Van that's never a concern. Apparently this draws the grubs up and the crows etc just pick them up off the lawn if there are any in the morning. There aren't many alternatives to fixing this issue unfortunately.

Watering restrictions prohibit nightly watering. This year we actually got to no watering at all for yards.

I found we needed to detahtch often and areate when we lived in Vancouver . I actully really dislke grass and that was the last home we ever had where we had grass. I think all the chemicals needed to have a pretty lawn are a huge waste and harmful too. So many ways to handle a yard and for sure now with all the water restrictions grass a huge waste.

We actually love our grass backyard. It’s an amazing play space for the kids and dog and absolutely worth having. The front yard I don’t really care for as it’s not well used and dries out when restrictions come into play. This is tue first year in five we’ve really had an issue with it and we weed it in summer but that’s it. I’m leaning toward pricing and getting the grass removed and doing a garden that can tolerate less water.

So spoke with two different landscapers and am really leaning toward removing the grass. One says we need to remove the grass fully and then put down soil. The other says we can remove parts of the grass and put down cardboard and then soil.

Do I need landscape design or is this something I could take on and add to over time? Don’t want to blow the bank here!

I think you can do your own research on whatever your overall plan or desired look is for the front yard taking into account sun direction, slope, style of house, neighbourhood, etc. From there outline the details of what plants/trees etc that you want to achieve the look, You could do it on your own and if you have a great garden store near you they are a fountain of information and suggestions.

Being on the North Shore the amount of rain that we get, elevation at which we live and the slope of our land plays a part in garden design and plant choices and the local garden centers are great sources of information.

Beautiful! A local Seattle TV station recently ran a segment on the grub problem. They recommended applying nematodes. Thatch and reseed in June (when the grubs have hatched and left the lawn). Apply nematodes in July to kill the new round of grubs.

We are really hoping that when we add the rye and clover it creates enough of a strong base that the grubs don’t stand a chance but who knows really!

I'm curious to hear how that goes. I think we have a grub problem developing--I saw a crow hopping around last week with a giant chunk of sod in his mouth. We were going to thatch and reseed anyway, just figuring out whether to apply nematodes and milky spore too.