Chafer Grubs

[Gomersall]

Any gardeners out there who could give me some advice please? I have chafer grubs in my grass. I say grass but the varmints have decimated the roots so my garden now resembles a desert. That’s not forgetting the birds who then dig up the garden to eat the grubs. Any advice on how to get rid of them will be greatly appreciated. TIA.

[JonM]

Nematodes? They're relatively expensive, but they work, although you might need to hurry up with it, as I think they need to be applied before autumn.

Other than that, just re-lay the affected bits of lawn in spring. There's no chemicals you can use.

[Gomersall]

47 minutes ago, JonM said:

Nematodes? They're relatively expensive, but they work, although you might need to hurry up with it, as I think they need to be applied before autumn.

Other than that, just re-lay the affected bits of lawn in spring. There's no chemicals you can use.

Thanks John. I’ve looked online about nematodes but it all seems a bit hit and miss to me if you don’t get the timing or the conditions right.

[JonM]

59 minutes ago, Gomersall said:

Thanks John. I’ve looked online about nematodes but it all seems a bit hit and miss to me if you don’t get the timing or the conditions right.

Yes, you're basically buying in some little worms to come and eat the larvae, and of course there's no guarantees that they actually will. Key thing is to make sure that you use them as soon as you get them (or keep them cool until you can) - also that you keep the lawn pretty damp once you've applied them - not so good if you're in a drought area with a hosepipe ban. Now is definitely the time to do it though, once we start getting frost it's too late.

[Exiled Townie]

Spoke to my neighbour who is an 'arboreal consultant' (tree surgeon) just to see if he knew anything about them.  He says nematodes is the modern way, but the old fashioned way was to water the lawn thoroughly in the evening and cover with old carpets, polythene sheets etc. This will bring most of the grubs to the surface. Then get up at dawn (sorry), remove the cover and allow the dawn chorus to deal with them.

[Gomersall]

11 hours ago, Exiled Townie said:

Spoke to my neighbour who is an 'arboreal consultant' (tree surgeon) just to see if he knew anything about them.  He says nematodes is the modern way, but the old fashioned way was to water the lawn thoroughly in the evening and cover with old carpets, polythene sheets etc. This will bring most of the grubs to the surface. Then get up at dawn (sorry), remove the cover and allow the dawn chorus to deal with them.

Thank you ET. Much appreciated.

[GURNER]

Not sure how deep they go but is scarifying an option?

[Gomersall]

11 hours ago, GURNER said:

Not sure how deep they go but is scarifying an option?

They can be several inches below the surface so I don’t think scarifying would work but thanks for the suggestion. I think I’m going to try the soaking and covering method first as I’m away on holiday soon so that rules nematodes out.