Lawn Destruction - Leatherjackets

Last post 04-11-2009 3:37 PM by sue1002. 3 replies.

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04/11/2009 01:48 AM
badchipper Location: Edinburgh Joined on: 03 Oct 2009 Posts: 6	Reply \| Contact Hello My fescue lawn (Rolawn Minster Pro), laid February 08, was infested August 08 through Spring 09 by these nasty little beasts. Lawn recovered over the Summer, while the little buggers pupated, but yellowed again in August this year. Applied lots of Nematodes on 25/08, and thought I had killed them. Alas no. They are with me again for yet another mild wet Winter, and it's now too late to call up the microscopic army. It makes me wish that Edinburgh was further North! Cold and dry seem to be their nemesis. Anyway, the advice from the greenkeepers at my golf club is that I need to just get older, watch my grass die, yet again, and then try again with the Nematodes in early Spring. They also suggested that the wee beasties might have a preferential taste for the finer grasses and I should consider overseeding with a mix which includes meadow grass. Hmm - the greenkeepers can cut down to 5mm and thus be the masters of meadow grass, while my Suffolk Punch is only comfortable with 14/19mm, so not sure on that one. Here are the questions. Thank you in advance for any replies... 1. The neglected and weed-ridden grasses of my neighbours are an enviable emerald green. Do these nasty little beasts, not my neighbours, only like bowling green grasses? Should I start overseeding with meadow grasses? Should I really move away from fescues? I just want a nice green grass that I can stripe and forbid all relations from walking on. Is that too much to ask? 2. Should I bombard them now, the wee buggers not my family, with Provado (the only chemical available in my garden centres)? It didn't work when I half-heartedly tried it in the past. If I went big-time with it now - and it didn't work - would its lingering presence scupper the attempts of the Nematode army I intend sending in in early Spring? Tell me that this would be a bad idea and I should be patient. 3. Is it possible to overdose with Nematodes? I bunged the whole packet, allegedly enough for 100 sq m, on my 60 sq m. Too mean to throw the rest way - yeah, yeah I'm Scottish - but surely it's not like overdosing with fertilizer; I thought it would enable the microscopic army to be better placed to seek out and destroy, no? 4.Did I apply Nematodes too early? (25/08/2009 Edinburgh). It's not like infecting the soil with nasty chemicals, so is there a limit to how often one can apply them? Suppose I was fixated enough to apply them every week throughout March/April and then again Aug/Sep/Oct... and would you all promise not to tell my wife? If you got this far, thanks for your time. There are loads of people out there who know the answers to what must be a not uncommon problem. I just hope I can connect with them. Does the Moderator of this forum link us through to the Experts in the RHS? How else can we communicate with them? So many questions. Any help and all views welcome. - apart from advising me to dig up my lawn and get out more. David, who is now a marginally better chipper than he used to be

04/11/2009 01:48 AM

badchipper
Location:
Edinburgh
Joined on:
03 Oct 2009
Posts:
6

Reply | Contact

Hello

My fescue lawn (Rolawn Minster Pro), laid February 08, was infested August 08 through Spring 09 by these nasty little beasts. Lawn recovered over the Summer, while the little buggers pupated, but yellowed again in August this year. Applied lots of Nematodes on 25/08, and thought I had killed them. Alas no. They are with me again for yet another mild wet Winter, and it's now too late to call up the microscopic army. It makes me wish that Edinburgh was further North! Cold and dry seem to be their nemesis. Anyway, the advice from the greenkeepers at my golf club is that I need to just get older, watch my grass die, yet again, and then try again with the Nematodes in early Spring. They also suggested that the wee beasties might have a preferential taste for the finer grasses and I should consider overseeding with a mix which includes meadow grass. Hmm - the greenkeepers can cut down to 5mm and thus be the masters of meadow grass, while my Suffolk Punch is only comfortable with 14/19mm, so not sure on that one.

Here are the questions. Thank you in advance for any replies...

1. The neglected and weed-ridden grasses of my neighbours are an enviable emerald green. Do these nasty little beasts, not my neighbours, only like bowling green grasses? Should I start overseeding with meadow grasses? Should I really move away from fescues? I just want a nice green grass that I can stripe and forbid all relations from walking on. Is that too much to ask?

2. Should I bombard them now, the wee buggers not my family, with Provado (the only chemical available in my garden centres)? It didn't work when I half-heartedly tried it in the past. If I went big-time with it now - and it didn't work - would its lingering presence scupper the attempts of the Nematode army I intend sending in in early Spring? Tell me that this would be a bad idea and I should be patient.

3. Is it possible to overdose with Nematodes? I bunged the whole packet, allegedly enough for 100 sq m, on my 60 sq m. Too mean to throw the rest way - yeah, yeah I'm Scottish - but surely it's not like overdosing with fertilizer; I thought it would enable the microscopic army to be better placed to seek out and destroy, no?

4.Did I apply Nematodes too early? (25/08/2009 Edinburgh). It's not like infecting the soil with nasty chemicals, so is there a limit to how often one can apply them? Suppose I was fixated enough to apply them every week throughout March/April and then again Aug/Sep/Oct... and would you all promise not to tell my wife?

If you got this far, thanks for your time. There are loads of people out there who know the answers to what must be a not uncommon problem. I just hope I can connect with them. Does the Moderator of this forum link us through to the Experts in the RHS? How else can we communicate with them?

So many questions. Any help and all views welcome. - apart from advising me to dig up my lawn and get out more.

David, who is now a marginally better chipper than he used to be

04/11/2009 08:21 AM	In reply to
Pesty Location: Joined on: 24 Nov 2005 Posts: 94	Reply \| Contact Moderator – I don’t think there is one! Contacting the RHS experts with your questions can be done via the RHS members advisory service GardeningAdvice@rhs.org.uk – you’ll need to include your membership number. Alternatively write to them at Wisley Garden. Lawns are the most problematic garden plant as far as pests go – this is one of the reasons why greenkeepers are a specialist breed of professional gardener! And why golfing greens etc are replaced so often. Leatherjackets are tricky to control and they are unpredictable. The lifecycle is that the adults emerge late summer (Aug-Sept) lay eggs and die. The Grubs hatch in the autumn and feed until frosts send them deeper into the soil so they escape the cold. If rainfall in Edinburgh has been low in the Sept to Oct period (well it could happen?) then many of the eggs will have died, as they are prone to drought. – this means its too late to treat now – either chemically or biocontrol (can’t overdose with the biocontrol although it can be a waste of product). The best time to treat is in the spring (so August is too late, not early) when things warm up and the grubs resume feeding. You could check for the presence of large numbers by using the watering the ground and placing black polythene on it overnight. If the turf is heavily infested you’ll find loads of leatherjackets. There was once some information on the advice pages of the RHS website but since the site has been updated the leatherjacket info seems to have disappeared – however here is a link which lists many of the causes of dead patches on lawns http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/Profile.aspx?pid=421 Hope that helps some way – good luck. 'Trying is the first step to failure' H.J.Simpson

04/11/2009 08:21 AM

In reply to

Pesty
Location:
Joined on:
24 Nov 2005
Posts:
94

Reply | Contact

Moderator – I don’t think there is one!

Contacting the RHS experts with your questions can be done via the RHS members advisory service GardeningAdvice@rhs.org.uk – you’ll need to include your membership number. Alternatively write to them at Wisley Garden.

Lawns are the most problematic garden plant as far as pests go – this is one of the reasons why greenkeepers are a specialist breed of professional gardener! And why golfing greens etc are replaced so often.

Leatherjackets are tricky to control and they are unpredictable. The lifecycle is that the adults emerge late summer (Aug-Sept) lay eggs and die. The Grubs hatch in the autumn and feed until frosts send them deeper into the soil so they escape the cold. If rainfall in Edinburgh has been low in the Sept to Oct period (well it could happen?) then many of the eggs will have died, as they are prone to drought. – this means its too late to treat now – either chemically or biocontrol (can’t overdose with the biocontrol although it can be a waste of product).

The best time to treat is in the spring (so August is too late, not early) when things warm up and the grubs resume feeding. You could check for the presence of large numbers by using the watering the ground and placing black polythene on it overnight. If the turf is heavily infested you’ll find loads of leatherjackets.

There was once some information on the advice pages of the RHS website but since the site has been updated the leatherjacket info seems to have disappeared – however here is a link which lists many of the causes of dead patches on lawns http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/Profile.aspx?pid=421

Hope that helps some way – good luck.

'Trying is the first step to failure' H.J.Simpson

04/11/2009 03:23 PM	In reply to
badchipper Location: Edinburgh Joined on: 03 Oct 2009 Posts: 6	Reply \| Contact Thanks for taking the time to write your reply. It has been mild and wet in Edinburgh so far this Autumn. The leather jackets are definitely there because I captured 3 of them at the weekend when gently raking out some of the dead grass. So I can decide what seed to use for overseeding, do you have a view on whether they prefer fescues to meadow grass? I have also written to Rolawn and await a reply. Interestingly, the Rolawn site says best time to treat with Nematodes is Autumn. http://www.rolawndirect.co.uk/turf_pest_and_disease_control-leather_jackets.html

04/11/2009 03:23 PM

In reply to

badchipper
Location:
Edinburgh
Joined on:
03 Oct 2009
Posts:
6

Reply | Contact

Thanks for taking the time to write your reply. It has been mild and wet in Edinburgh so far this Autumn. The leather jackets are definitely there because I captured 3 of them at the weekend when gently raking out some of the dead grass. So I can decide what seed to use for overseeding, do you have a view on whether they prefer fescues to meadow grass? I have also written to Rolawn and await a reply. Interestingly, the Rolawn site says best time to treat with Nematodes is Autumn. http://www.rolawndirect.co.uk/turf_pest_and_disease_control-leather_jackets.html

04/11/2009 03:37 PM	In reply to
sue1002 Location: Ipswich, Suffolk Joined on: 06 Sep 2005 Posts: 5,200	Reply \| Contact You're right Pesty, the RHS page on leatherjackets seems to have disappeared. It would be interesting to see what the reply from Rowlan is badchipper as most other sites I've seen the nematodes on say the best time for nematode treatment is from August to October. For the nematodes to work, the area must be kept moist and not left to dry out and the soil temperature has to be over 10 degrees too. sue1002

04/11/2009 03:37 PM

In reply to

sue1002
Location:
Ipswich, Suffolk
Joined on:
06 Sep 2005
Posts:
5,200

Reply | Contact

You're right Pesty, the RHS page on leatherjackets seems to have disappeared.

It would be interesting to see what the reply from Rowlan is badchipper as most other sites I've seen the nematodes on say the best time for nematode treatment is from August to October. For the nematodes to work, the area must be kept moist and not left to dry out and the soil temperature has to be over 10 degrees too.

sue1002

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Lawn Destruction - Leatherjackets