Cranefly on grass

Kaizersoze81

Hi,

So over the last year I noticed small white grubs under the soil anytime I dug. These ruined a lot of my lawn by eating the roots of the grass resulting in large dead patches, which I’ve repaired this summer. I now notice a large amount of crane flys in the garden presumably which have hatched from the grubs.

I’m worried now that they’ll repeat the process and lay their eggs in the soil ruining the lawn again next spring.
Is there anything that can be done to get rid of these pests?

Thanks

macraignil

Kaizersoze81 wrote: »

Hi,

So over the last year I noticed small white grubs under the soil anytime I dug. These ruined a lot of my lawn by eating the roots of the grass resulting in large dead patches, which I’ve repaired this summer. I now notice a large amount of crane flys in the garden presumably which have hatched from the grubs.

I’m worried now that they’ll repeat the process and lay their eggs in the soil ruining the lawn again next spring.
Is there anything that can be done to get rid of these pests?

Thanks

The larvae from crane fly are usually called leatherjackets and they can cause damage to seedling plants but it sounds strange to me that they would be damaging entire patches in your lawn. Mature grass would usually be vigorous enough to regrow after such attacks so I think you should investigate if there are any other causes to the damaged patches (e.g. pet urine can sometimes be so high in ammonia that it will cause noticeable patches of damaged grass). If you are convinced it is cutworms are causing the damage a product like the one in the link might be effective, but I have only read about this form of pest control and have not bought any.

Kaizersoze81

Thanks. Yeah I’m pretty sure it’s the grubs (think they’re called leather jackets) doing the damage. There’s a serious amount of adult cranefly in the garden now too.

magicbastarder

usually leatherjacks are dark brown though - you mention they're white?

Kaizersoze81

magicbastarder wrote: »

usually leatherjacks are dark brown though - you mention they're white?

I was mistaken with white, having googled leather jackets they’re exactly what’s in the soil.
I’ve seen starlings pecking at the lawn also which I believe is a sign of leather jackets

my3cents

If you have the time and stomach, you can cover an area of the grass before dark and then roll it back in the morning to bring the larvae to the surface and then sweep (or mow) them up.

Its not ideal and doesn't get all of them by any means but can help reduce the number in the soil chomping at your grasses roots.

twignme

Nemasys nematodes for leatherjackets. Just coming up to the right time to water them in and you can get them from Mr Middleton garden centre who can mail them to you. They need to be kept in the fridge and used within a week or so but having had 50% of my lawn destroyed one year, I can guarantee from personal experience that they work. There was a long thread about leatherjackets earlier in the year.