In article , Moo
writes
Hello,

I recently moved into a new property and begun work on the garden. At the
bottom there was huge unsightly compost heap which we promptly disposed of.
Living in the compost heap was a whole load of spiders, quite a few have
disappeared but there are loads and loads living in the lawn (they were in
the lawn to start with aswell as the compost heap). I hate spiders,
especially when there are so many of them, is there anything I can do to get
rid of them? I want my girlfriend to be able to sunbathe on the lawn
without fear of twenty spiders running across her legs every few minutes (I
exaggerate not!).

Arachnophobia is certainly unpleasant for the sufferer, but not only do
spiders do a lot of good in the garden (and in the house for that
matter), there is absolutely no chance of you getting rid of them from
your garden. Don't tell your girlfriend, but one study of spiders in
pastures in Sussex estimated there were about 2 million spiders to the
acre. If that is anything like your lawn, then supposing your girlfriend
places a towel 6x3 feet on the grass and then settles down to sunbathe,
she is probably lying on something like 600 of the little dears, which,
at your quoted rate of 20 every few minutes, will take at least 2 or 3
hours to run over her legs!!

--
Malcolm