MR. C – Cheltenham

Our client, Mr C contacted us following a recommendation from one of his neighbours. He was unhappy that his lawn was being regularly attacked by crows trying to feed on the insects that had infested their lawn. This had made his lawn appear very rough and there were clumps of earth and grass that had been displaced.

We investigated what was happening; it turns out that the lawn was infested with leatherjackets, the larval stage of the crane fly and chafer grubs, the larvae of large flying beetles.

The first stage of our treatment was to spray bee-friendly treatment on the lawn; on this occasion we used nematodes. This turned out very effective for killing the leather jackets, but the chafer grubs were resistant to the treatment, which was our next challenge.

We discussed this issue with the client, and they decided they would like to try a new approach and they wanted to remove and replace the soil from the lawn. We brought in our specialist equipment and got to work, we managed to dig out 4 tonnes of soil, and replace all the loam and topsoil for the client.

The treatment was a success, and the crows no longer feed on his lawn. We also advised him that as these insects can return, and we now treat his lawn regularly to keep them at bay.