Case Study 2
A fellow garden professional was having problems with birds digging up one of his customers lawns so asked if we would come and give our opinion on the cause. After a visit and samples being taken and analysed, the cause was found to be Leatherjacket larvae which the birds were digging for in the lawn. As the thatch levels were marginal, it was our opinion that a full renovation would be beneficial as the larvae live in and around the thatch level.
A plan for the year was drawn up and agreed with the customer comprising of scarifying, aerating, overseeding, top dressing, fertiliser application and an application of nematodes to control the Leatherjackets, with follow up fertiliser treatments throughout the year.
First of all we scarified the lawn to remove as much thatch as possible and any dead grass that had been dug up by birds or eaten by the larvae. As the thatch levels were acceptable, we scarified to a depth of about 2mm in to the thatch layer. This still produced alot of waste!
After Scarifying two ways, the lawn was aerated with our fracture tine aerator. Due to wet weather the week before we managed to achieve a full depth of 6" of the tines over the lawn.
We next overseeded with a seed mix that is ideal for cooler temperature germination as we were heading into Autumn. This was followed by a light top dressing with top soil which was then drag matted in to mix the seed and soil together and drag into the slots left by the aerator. This all helps aid greater germination success of the seed. The lawn was then treated to an application of our Autumn fertiliser mix.
The final process in this renovation was the application of Nematodes to try and keep the leather jacket larvae under control. Nematodes are microscopic worms that naturally control the larvae. The process involves watering in the Nematodes to the lawn with an applicator, then let nature take it's course!
Revisit
After a period of very wet weather, the lawn was finally able to get it's last cut of the year, seven weeks after renovation. It has thickened up very nicely with the overseeding and will provide a good basis for applying further treatments.
