diatomaceous earth

just my own observations regarding ants, if it works, it's a "barely" thing. you can't put it around an anthill and expect the colony to be dead in a few days (or ever).

maybe it's a deterrent, and that's something, but not nearly enough to replace chemical baits.

with the chemical baits I stack basketball sized rocks around them so the dogs don't chew them up

John Meshna wrote:One way to get it down an ant or termite hole id to wet it along with some castile soap and pour it down the hole. The soap helps smother the bugs and when the solution dries out the stuff sticks to the bugs and their eggs and larvae like glue and does them in. DE never loses it's kill capacity. It doesn't dissolve in water.

This is interesting to me. Our problem is chafer-beetle grubs that live below the soil surface (generally, 2 - 4-inches down). We've got a bad problem with them in a 400 sq ft sandy-soil area where grass used to grow, but raccoons & skunks have torn up the soil surface horrendously. We've had to trap more than 15 or each in the last three years. (And my wife feels we deserve a bit of lawn, and she has knee issues right now & the ground has become uncomfortable & hazardous for her to walk on — plus she once got slightly sprayed by a skunk there.)

So the skunks & 'coons go there to dig out & eat the grubs. Do you think tilling DE into the soil would work? Has anyone worked with DE tilled into soil on this sort of scale?  If so, how much DE would be recommended for 400 sq ft?

I'm supposing DE may be available in 44 or 50lb sacks... though possibly expensive.

As no one has yet repiied to my inquiry above, I suppose I can assume that no one checking-in on this thread has experience using DE against chafer-beetle larvae in the upper soil level?