Lawn Pests
Chafer Grubs
Adult chafers are medium-sized reddish
brown beetles, called May Beetles. However
it's the grub stage that causes damage by
eating the roots of the grass. Then birds,
foxes or badgers will all do extensive damage trying to get at the grubs.
These can be tackled by spraying nematodes, tiny parasitic worms that attack the grubs.
Leather Jackets
These are the larvae grub of the crane fly.
They feed on the roots of grasses and can
do substantial damage if found in great
numbers.
Initial signs are a thinning and yellowing of the sward. Also if the lawn is getting a lot of attention from birds, especially starlings, leatherjackets could be present.
Most damage is done from October to April. August/September sees the adult crane fly (daddy longlegs) emerge, they lay their eggs to start the process all over again.