Protect lawns from garden chafer grubs and leatherjackets this summer with an organically compatible solution

The arrival of summer brings with it a double threat for garden lawns. As the temperature rises, magpies, crows, badgers and foxes will start their hunt for some of their favourite snacks – garden chafer grubs and leatherjackets. The larvae live just below the surface of the lawn and the animals and birds will scrape and dig in search of them, destroying the lawn in the process.

If this doesn’t decimate the lawn, then the grubs themselves will. Both leatherjackets and garden chafer grubs attack grass roots resulting in slow growth and yellow patches, leaving it easy to pull up, with little or no roots.

To stop this damaging activity, treat lawns with Nemasys Biological Garden Chafer Grub Killer and Nemasys Biological Leatherjacket Killer, releasing millions of microscopic nematodes that will penetrate the soil, seek out the pests and kill them. This organically compatible treatment can be used on lawns where pets and children play, and users needn’t worry about runoff into organic fruit and veg patches.

Nematodes occur naturally in soil and BASF breeds specific types that each seek out and kill particular prey.

Leatherjackets are about 25mm long, brown, legless and with no distinct head. They are the larval stage of daddy long legs, which can be first spotted in Spring, and lay eggs within days. These hatch within two weeks and start to feed on grass roots. A good rule of thumb is to wait two weeks from when you first see daddy long legs, and apply nematodes, and then apply again in two weeks’ time, keeping the soil moist throughout.

Garden chafer grubs are creamy coloured, about 15mm in length and 'C' shaped with distinctive legs and a head capsule. Adult beetles emerge from lawns in May/June, mate and lay eggs, which hatch into small grubs that feed on grass roots and move close to the soil surface towards the end of August. By the end of October, then they burrow deeper and lie dormant to overwinter before pupating in spring.

Nemasys Garden Chafer Grub Killer and Nemasys Leatherjacket Killer are easily applied. They arrive in the form of a fibrous paste, which you then disperse in water (following mixing guidelines). The watery mix can then be applied via a watering can with a coarse rose for a small lawn or with a hose-end feeder for larger lawns.

Once the garden chafer grub and leatherjacket population has been reduced by the nematodes, the large amount of nematodes applied will die back to their original numbers found naturally in the soil.

An entire season’s worth of pest control can be purchased now via online stockists, to be delivered fresh, straight to your door. T

o find out more about how nematodes work, take a look at this short video - north_east https://youtu.be/JHNG1KSluh0