Our front lawn has been under attack from crows, they have been rooting up
the turf, down to bare soil. I assumed it was "just one of those things"
until it has become very noticeable indeed. A knowledgeable neighbor has
said the previous owners of our property, out in the sticks here in north
Shropshire, had a problem in the 1970's with a Chafer grub infestation, and
she came over with a fork and turned back turf near where the birds have
been foraging. I was shocked to see the turf turn back like pulling up old
carpet underlay, the roots seem to have been eaten away! The lawn is over
an acre in size, with perhaps 10% affected, and I only judge affected areas
as those where the birds have seen fit to forage. I found LOTS of grubs,
all the same size and coloration, and I have put pictures up at

http://www.newbury-house.com/grubs/grubs.html

Click on the small images to see them full size please.

Is her opinion correct, and what can I do to eradicate them please? This is
beginning to sound like a time consuming and possibly expensive problem

Thanks for any help anyone can offer.

Chris wrote:
Our front lawn has been under attack from crows, they have been rooting up
the turf, down to bare soil. I assumed it was "just one of those things"
until it has become very noticeable indeed. A knowledgeable neighbor has
said the previous owners of our property, out in the sticks here in north
Shropshire, had a problem in the 1970's with a Chafer grub infestation
(snip)

How funny - I found a few leatherjackets grubs last week end whilst
planting trees. Well, not funny really. The birds are your friends
there. However I was told the bestest results are nematodes that you
water in, simply callled Chafer Grub Killers. I've never used it. I
don't have lawn ... Good luck.

--
X-No-Archive
"Chris" wrote in message
...
Our front lawn has been under attack from crows, they have been rooting up
the turf, down to bare soil. I assumed it was "just one of those things"
until it has become very noticeable indeed. A knowledgeable neighbor has
said the previous owners of our property, out in the sticks here in north
Shropshire, had a problem in the 1970's with a Chafer grub infestation,
and
she came over with a fork and turned back turf near where the birds have
been foraging. I was shocked to see the turf turn back like pulling up old
carpet underlay, the roots seem to have been eaten away! The lawn is over
an acre in size, with perhaps 10% affected, and I only judge affected
areas
as those where the birds have seen fit to forage. I found LOTS of grubs,
all the same size and coloration, and I have put pictures up at

http://www.newbury-house.com/grubs/grubs.html

Click on the small images to see them full size please.

Is her opinion correct, and what can I do to eradicate them please? This
is
beginning to sound like a time consuming and possibly expensive problem

Thanks for any help anyone can offer.
You don't need to doo anything do you? Nature has provided her own
solution. Let the birds do their work, then in spring start to repair the
lawn.

On 2/2/06 11:37, in article ,
"Chris" wrote:

Our front lawn has been under attack from crows, they have been rooting up
the turf, down to bare soil. I assumed it was "just one of those things"
until it has become very noticeable indeed. A knowledgeable neighbor has
said the previous owners of our property, out in the sticks here in north
Shropshire, had a problem in the 1970's with a Chafer grub infestation, and
she came over with a fork and turned back turf near where the birds have
been foraging. I was shocked to see the turf turn back like pulling up old
carpet underlay, the roots seem to have been eaten away! The lawn is over
an acre in size, with perhaps 10% affected, and I only judge affected areas
as those where the birds have seen fit to forage. I found LOTS of grubs,
all the same size and coloration, and I have put pictures up at

http://www.newbury-house.com/grubs/grubs.html

Click on the small images to see them full size please.

Is her opinion correct, and what can I do to eradicate them please? This is
beginning to sound like a time consuming and possibly expensive problem

Thanks for any help anyone can offer.

Let the birds gets on with it, Chris. They're helping you and you're
helping them - perfect natural balance. We get quite a lot of jackdaws and
rooks on one particular lawn here and are happy to leave them to it.
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
)

Chris wrote:
Our front lawn has been under attack from crows, they have been
rooting up the turf, down to bare soil. I assumed it was "just one
of
those things" until it has become very noticeable indeed. A
knowledgeable neighbor has said the previous owners of our property,
out in the sticks here in north Shropshire, had a problem in the
1970's with a Chafer grub infestation, and she came over with a fork
and turned back turf near where the birds have been foraging. I was
shocked to see the turf turn back like pulling up old carpet
underlay, the roots seem to have been eaten away! The lawn is over
an
acre in size, with perhaps 10% affected, and I only judge affected
areas as those where the birds have seen fit to forage. I found LOTS
of grubs, all the same size and coloration, and I have put pictures
up at

http://www.newbury-house.com/grubs/grubs.html

Click on the small images to see them full size please.

Is her opinion correct,

Yes, I'd say that's a pretty safe bet.
Mind you, an expert would want one under a microscope before
committing him/herself.

--
ned

http://www.bugsandweeds.co.uk
last update 22.01.2006

In message , Chris
writes
Our front lawn has been under attack from crows, they have been rooting up
the turf, down to bare soil. I assumed it was "just one of those things"
until it has become very noticeable indeed. A knowledgeable neighbor has
said the previous owners of our property, out in the sticks here in north
Shropshire, had a problem in the 1970's with a Chafer grub infestation, and
she came over with a fork and turned back turf near where the birds have
been foraging. I was shocked to see the turf turn back like pulling up old
carpet underlay, the roots seem to have been eaten away! The lawn is over
an acre in size, with perhaps 10% affected, and I only judge affected areas
as those where the birds have seen fit to forage. I found LOTS of grubs,
all the same size and coloration, and I have put pictures up at

http://www.newbury-house.com/grubs/grubs.html

Click on the small images to see them full size please.

Is her opinion correct, and what can I do to eradicate them please? This is
beginning to sound like a time consuming and possibly expensive problem

Thanks for any help anyone can offer.

Be thankful it is crows and not badgers :-)
There are controls available - you may want to have a look at the
Nemasys site
http://www.nemasysinfo.com/html/chaf...afer_main.html for some
useful information.
--
Robert