In article ,
Another John wrote:
In article ,
Mathew Newton wrote:

I lifted a square foot of weed fabric I laid down last night and found these
(high res images for zooming):

http://www.newtonnet.co.uk/permanent/grubs1.jpg
http://www.newtonnet.co.uk/permanent/grubs2.jpg (probably around 50 of these
in a ball)
http://www.newtonnet.co.uk/permanent/grubs3.jpg

I've never seen so many bugs in such a small area - ecchh!

It doesn't look good, I agree. A is earthworm - good. D and E look
like leopard slugs - also good (they are carnivores). But the rest
all look like plant eaters.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 6/02/2016 8:38 PM, Another John wrote:
In article ,
David Hill wrote:

On the bright side the chances are that after this winter we wont have
another prolonged soak like we are having for several years ...

David -- I'd *love* to know what the basis for your saying this is! In
the currently relentlessly miserable world (from floods to refugees to
econonomic crises) that would be something to look forward to! (yeah
yeah yeah --- we'll have droughts instead, huh? :-)

Be very careful what you wish for!

For a gardener, it's very distressing to see plants curl up and die
because of lack of water or to even sit there and do nothing as the
water they are being given is only just keeping them alive but is not
enough to make them thrive.

On 06/02/2016 11:03, Another John wrote:

Wow! I revise my earlier diagnosis, such as it was, of "excessive
rainfall" to "excessive pests as well as rainfall".
I think you need to take steps. You could do with a local flock of
starlings/jackdaws ... but failing that Janet's post earlier gave a link
straight to some pest controllers. I'd ask your lawn suppliers if the
have recommendations.

I've never seen so many bugs in such a small area - ecchh!

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=651

Andy

On Sunday, 7 February 2016 21:58:15 UTC, Vir Campestris wrote:

I've never seen so many bugs in such a small area - ecchh!

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=651

Andy

Yes, I'm pretty confident that they are leatherjackets - both by look and effect!

Actually, I think my issue is multifaceted and something of a perfect storm:

- Very wet winter
- Clay subsoil and consequently less then ideal drainage
- Leatherjackets infestation
- A too short pre-winter final cut leaving the grass weaker than it could otherwise have been

When the weather starts to improve I may attempt to remove as many leatherjackets as is feasible - there's only a finite number out there - it's not like they are breeding, yet! Every leatherjacket I remove is one less at the dinner table. I will then give a treatment of nematodes when the soil temperature increases to tackle the remainder.

I may well give another treatment at the end of summer, following hatching of eggs laid by those I've missed, to hopefully remove this factor from the equation for next winter...

Thanks again to everyone for all the input - it has been really appreciated..

Mathew

On 08/02/2016 21:03, Mathew Newton wrote:
I may well give another treatment at the end of summer, following hatching of eggs laid by those I've missed, to hopefully remove this factor from the equation for next winter...

Leatherjackets are the larvae of craneflies. They don't lay eggs
themselves - they have to emerge as adults, and then the adults lay
eggs. They aren't doing it in this weather.

If you can keep the adults off somehow you won't have a problem next
year. I wouldn't be surprised to find the nematodes persist for a while
at least - or else how do they survive outside the lab & garden?

Andy

On 08/02/2016 21:40, Vir Campestris wrote:
On 08/02/2016 21:03, Mathew Newton wrote:
I may well give another treatment at the end of summer, following
hatching of eggs laid by those I've missed, to hopefully remove this
factor from the equation for next winter...

Leatherjackets are the larvae of craneflies. They don't lay eggs
themselves - they have to emerge as adults, and then the adults lay
eggs. They aren't doing it in this weather.

If you can keep the adults off somehow you won't have a problem next
year. I wouldn't be surprised to find the nematodes persist for a while
at least - or else how do they survive outside the lab & garden?

Andy

The question is how do you breed the leatherjacketnematodes?

Nematodes for slugs can be a DIY process by collecting slugs and keeping
them in moist/wet confined container until they die and then using the
resultant mush in water.

--
mailto: news {at} admac {dot] myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On Monday, 8 February 2016 21:41:00 UTC, Vir Campestris wrote:
On 08/02/2016 21:03, Mathew Newton wrote:
I may well give another treatment at the end of summer, following hatching of eggs laid by those I've missed, to hopefully remove this factor from the equation for next winter...

Leatherjackets are the larvae of craneflies. They don't lay eggs
themselves - they have to emerge as adults, and then the adults lay
eggs.

That's what I meant - I'll retreat in Sep/Oct when the eggs laid by any crane flies (there are bound to be some) start to hatch.

If you can keep the adults off somehow you won't have a problem next
year.

We used to have a cat that would chase and eat them.... The one we've got now is too lazy for that sort of thing though so it might be down to me (to chase at least!).

Mathew

On Monday, 8 February 2016 21:51:35 UTC, alan_m wrote:

The question is how do you breed the leatherjacket nematodes?

I'll be taking the easy option and just buying them (e.g. Nemasys).

I suppose they'll start breeding themselves once they start doing their thing. ;-)

Mathew Newton wrote:

Actually, I think my issue is multifaceted and something of a perfect storm:
(Snip list)
.... I also wondered if your extravagant and well intentioned subsoil might
have made a tempting home for crane flies whilst being too clean to contain
any natural controls (!) - the law of unintended consequences.


I will then give a treatment of nematodes
Don't forget the low tech option - the more birds come to your garden the
fewer crane flies there will be, and the more leatherjackets will get eaten
too. Unfortunately by different types of bird....


Thanks again to everyone for all the input - it has been really appreciated.

Glad to help. URG was always usenet at its best.

On 08/02/2016 23:03, Mathew Newton wrote:
On Monday, 8 February 2016 21:51:35 UTC, alan_m wrote:

The question is how do you breed the leatherjacket nematodes?

I'll be taking the easy option and just buying them (e.g. Nemasys).

Wait until it is warmer a lot of the eco controls are very touchy about
the temeprature when they are applied and if there are no active hosts
available then they die out very quickly.

I suppose they'll start breeding themselves once they start doing their thing. ;-)

It might be easier to hang up a peanut bird feeder to invite more birds
into the garden that will eat up insects in the lawn. Green woodpeckers
are perfect for this though most birds will eat whatever they can find.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

In article ,
lid says...

Mathew Newton wrote:

Actually, I think my issue is multifaceted and something of a perfect storm:
(Snip list)
... I also wondered if your extravagant and well intentioned subsoil might
have made a tempting home for crane flies whilst being too clean to contain
any natural controls (!) - the law of unintended consequences.


I will then give a treatment of nematodes
Don't forget the low tech option - the more birds come to your garden the
fewer crane flies there will be, and the more leatherjackets will get eaten
too. Unfortunately by different types of bird....


Thanks again to everyone for all the input - it has been really appreciated.

Glad to help. URG was always usenet at its best.

Well, he could make a start by laying a sheet of black plastic on the
lawn at night (opened-out compost bag) to bring leatherjackets to the
surface; then remove it in the morning and scatter a little bird seed.
Garden birds will quickly habituate to a regular food supply. Repeat
until the leatherjacket population dwindles.

Janet.

In article ,
says...

On 08/02/2016 23:03, Mathew Newton wrote:
On Monday, 8 February 2016 21:51:35 UTC, alan_m wrote:

The question is how do you breed the leatherjacket nematodes?

I'll be taking the easy option and just buying them (e.g. Nemasys).

Wait until it is warmer a lot of the eco controls are very touchy about
the temeprature when they are applied and if there are no active hosts
available then they die out very quickly.

I suppose they'll start breeding themselves once they start doing their thing. ;-)

It might be easier to hang up a peanut bird feeder to invite more birds
into the garden that will eat up insects in the lawn. Green woodpeckers
are perfect for this though most birds will eat whatever they can find.

I've found that a fast and harmless way to clear infestations of
greenfly or blackfly. The peanuts lure in the bluetits.

Janet.

On 09/02/2016 11:54, Janet wrote:
In article ,
says...

On 08/02/2016 23:03, Mathew Newton wrote:
On Monday, 8 February 2016 21:51:35 UTC, alan_m wrote:

The question is how do you breed the leatherjacket nematodes?

I'll be taking the easy option and just buying them (e.g. Nemasys).

Wait until it is warmer a lot of the eco controls are very touchy about
the temeprature when they are applied and if there are no active hosts
available then they die out very quickly.

I suppose they'll start breeding themselves once they start doing their thing. ;-)

It might be easier to hang up a peanut bird feeder to invite more birds
into the garden that will eat up insects in the lawn. Green woodpeckers
are perfect for this though most birds will eat whatever they can find.

I've found that a fast and harmless way to clear infestations of
greenfly or blackfly. The peanuts lure in the bluetits.

Likewise for assorted tits but ours also gets nuthatches, and greater
and lesser spotted woodpeckers in winter. The big woodpecker is a
surprisingly nervous bird considering everything gets out of its way!

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On Tuesday, 9 February 2016 11:34:01 UTC, Janet wrote:

Well, he could make a start by laying a sheet of black plastic on the
lawn at night (opened-out compost bag) to bring leatherjackets to the
surface; then remove it in the morning ...]

That's my plan. The quick experiment with weed fabric the other night proved very effective.

[...] and scatter a little bird seed.

I'll probably stick to manual clearance as with two cats I wouldn't be comfortable inadvertently luring birds to what could possibly be their last meal!

Mathew

On Monday, 8 February 2016 23:17:59 UTC, Robert Harvey wrote:

... I also wondered if your extravagant and well intentioned subsoil might
have made a tempting home for crane flies whilst being too clean to contain
any natural controls (!) - the law of unintended consequences.

An interesting point - hadn't considered that!