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#1
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Grass problem-Help!
Recently I found that over night a patch in the centre of my lawn had been
'chewed up' Examining the mess I noticed that there were a number of white larvae and also there was a weed that looked like grass but had a long stem and spread by layering. A neighbour had the same and said that it was caused by crows at dawn digging for the larvae which he thought was the larvae of slugs or snails By coincidence this patch coincided with the area where moles had previously dug their tunnels I have scraped as much of this weed as possible but I think some of the roots remain What weed killer should I use to kill this weed? Blair |
#2
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Grass problem-Help!
On 26 Sep, 08:37, "bm" wrote:
Recently I found that over night a patch in the centre of my lawn had been 'chewed up' Examining the mess I noticed that there were a number of white larvae and also there was a weed that looked like grass but had a long stem and spread by layering. A neighbour had the same and said that it was caused by crows at dawn digging for the larvae which he thought was the larvae of slugs or snails By coincidence this patch coincided with the area where moles had previously dug their tunnels I have scraped as much of this weed as possible but I think some of the roots remain What weed killer should I use to kill this weed? Blair Slugs and snail don't have larvae, only insects. Probably crane fly larvae. They eat the roots of grass. Birds will eat them given chance and scrat about looking for more. More likely to be a headgehog or other small mammal by the sound of the damage.. If you have a non-grass weed you can use a broadleave weedkiller. There are lots of lawn weedkillers out there. |
#3
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Grass problem-Help!
On Sun, 26 Sep 2010 01:26:31 -0700 (PDT), harry
wrote: On 26 Sep, 08:37, "bm" wrote: Recently I found that over night a patch in the centre of my lawn had been 'chewed up' Examining the mess I noticed that there were a number of white larvae and also there was a weed that looked like grass but had a long stem and spread by layering. A neighbour had the same and said that it was caused by crows at dawn digging for the larvae which he thought was the larvae of slugs or snails By coincidence this patch coincided with the area where moles had previously dug their tunnels I have scraped as much of this weed as possible but I think some of the roots remain What weed killer should I use to kill this weed? Blair Slugs and snail don't have larvae, only insects. Probably crane fly larvae. They eat the roots of grass. Birds will eat them given chance and scrat about looking for more. More likely to be a headgehog or other small mammal by the sound of the damage.. If you have a non-grass weed you can use a broadleave weedkiller. There are lots of lawn weedkillers out there. But you're going to have a problem with a lawn weedkiller - they need foliage to be absorbed by and if you've scraped most of it away then the weed stuff won't be so effective at getting to the roots that remain. Weedkillers that soak into the ground and kill the roots that way will also kill any grass roots they touch and prevent anything (including grass) growing in the area for months. If the ground has been "chewed up" then it won't hurt to use a hand fork to get in a bit deeper and get all the roots you can find out by hand. Next you want to identify the larvae for certain - Harry's almost certainly right but as you have a specimen or two, type "crane fly larvae" into your search engine and you'll find something with pictures to compare. If they are, they will damage the lawn through the winter and spring by eating the grass roots (as well as attracting foragers). You can deal with them using nematodes if you're organic (Rolawn sell specific crane fly nematodes) or with Provado Lawn Grub Killer. Then get some suitable grass seed and reseed the damaged area - better to get grass growing there than leaving it bare for more weeds to get in. Put some net over the seeded area to keep the wildlife off while the grass grows. |
#4
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Grass problem-Help!
"harry" wrote in message ... On 26 Sep, 08:37, "bm" wrote: Recently I found that over night a patch in the centre of my lawn had been 'chewed up' Examining the mess I noticed that there were a number of white larvae and also there was a weed that looked like grass but had a long stem and spread by layering. A neighbour had the same and said that it was caused by crows at dawn digging for the larvae which he thought was the larvae of slugs or snails By coincidence this patch coincided with the area where moles had previously dug their tunnels I have scraped as much of this weed as possible but I think some of the roots remain What weed killer should I use to kill this weed? Blair Slugs and snail don't have larvae, only insects. Probably crane fly larvae. They eat the roots of grass. Birds will eat them given chance and scrat about looking for more. More likely to be a headgehog or other small mammal by the sound of the damage.. If you have a non-grass weed you can use a broadleave weedkiller. There are lots of lawn weedkillers out there. Many thanks for your help Blair |
#5
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Grass problem-Help!
"Jake" wrote in message ... On Sun, 26 Sep 2010 01:26:31 -0700 (PDT), harry wrote: On 26 Sep, 08:37, "bm" wrote: Recently I found that over night a patch in the centre of my lawn had been 'chewed up' Examining the mess I noticed that there were a number of white larvae and also there was a weed that looked like grass but had a long stem and spread by layering. A neighbour had the same and said that it was caused by crows at dawn digging for the larvae which he thought was the larvae of slugs or snails By coincidence this patch coincided with the area where moles had previously dug their tunnels I have scraped as much of this weed as possible but I think some of the roots remain What weed killer should I use to kill this weed? Blair Slugs and snail don't have larvae, only insects. Probably crane fly larvae. They eat the roots of grass. Birds will eat them given chance and scrat about looking for more. More likely to be a headgehog or other small mammal by the sound of the damage.. If you have a non-grass weed you can use a broadleave weedkiller. There are lots of lawn weedkillers out there. But you're going to have a problem with a lawn weedkiller - they need foliage to be absorbed by and if you've scraped most of it away then the weed stuff won't be so effective at getting to the roots that remain. Weedkillers that soak into the ground and kill the roots that way will also kill any grass roots they touch and prevent anything (including grass) growing in the area for months. If the ground has been "chewed up" then it won't hurt to use a hand fork to get in a bit deeper and get all the roots you can find out by hand. Next you want to identify the larvae for certain - Harry's almost certainly right but as you have a specimen or two, type "crane fly larvae" into your search engine and you'll find something with pictures to compare. If they are, they will damage the lawn through the winter and spring by eating the grass roots (as well as attracting foragers). You can deal with them using nematodes if you're organic (Rolawn sell specific crane fly nematodes) or with Provado Lawn Grub Killer. Then get some suitable grass seed and reseed the damaged area - better to get grass growing there than leaving it bare for more weeds to get in. Put some net over the seeded area to keep the wildlife off while the grass grows. You have been a great help with my problem and I will follow your advice many thanks Blair |
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