Leatherjackets and Magpies

Same problem here, im hoping they like out the moss!

Oik out!

Dd used nematodes to kill the larvae off. Then you may need to re sow the grass in places but this is the right time of year.

whats a leather jacket?in the animal world.

Larvae of the crane fly (daddy long legs) polnan.

Thanks Georgesgran, I've never know that.

Neither have i.Not a gardener😬Why not just say that then,why call it 'leather jacket? How odd.😆

But funny😆

Leather jacket is the correct term for the larvae of crane flies.
Crane flies aka Daddy Longlegs.

The larvae can destroy a lawn. The more the birds eat the better.

I had the same problem a few years ago but with a badger digging the back lawn up up overnight, the lawn looked like a bomb site in the morning when we got up , big clumps of grass dug up everywhere, and then he burrowed under the fence and had a go at my neighbour's and several others on his way up the lane.
He came in from the fields at the back we think

What about a novel thought - don't worry about your lawn. The magpies are hungry, as are all other living things. Why kill the larvae when living beings will go hungry? I have never understood the obsession with lawns - madness!

meddijess

What about a novel thought - don't worry about your lawn. The magpies are hungry, as are all other living things. Why kill the larvae when living beings will go hungry? I have never understood the obsession with lawns - madness!

Well said meddijess

I leave mine for the starlings and their babies in the spring.
Also, I love that period in autumn when they fly into the house clumsily banging into things and waking up the cat.

This is so funny, people pay thousands to maintain their lawn to perfection, others let the birds have their meals from it. Each to their own 🤣

meddijess I think it depends if you have a lawn or grass I have the latter I like to think of the weeds as wild flowers and certainly it fared much better in the dry weather than a pristine lawn would have done Don’t water either

Called leather jackets because they have a leathery skin
Don’t worry about magpies and crows you won’t believe what badgers will do

meddijess

What about a novel thought - don't worry about your lawn. The magpies are hungry, as are all other living things. Why kill the larvae when living beings will go hungry? I have never understood the obsession with lawns - madness!

Our lawn is partly grass, partly weeds, or wildflowers if you prefer.
Two crows were busy pecking away on a bank which is mainly dead moss now, perhaps there are leather jackets in there.

Yeats ago there used to be crane flies everywhere, esprcially round a light, now we rarely see them.

Crane flies have been noticeable by their absence here for several years. We do get at least two wasps' nests every year - I let them be unless they nest too close to the house, as they keep the greenfly down. Also several species of bee, such as bumblebees, leaf cutters and honey bees from a neighbour's hives. There is running water close by, so we also get damsel flies, mayflies and dragonflies on a warm summer day. Jackdaws nest in our field maple each year but I've never seen them digging up the lawn - perhaps the damp soil under the grass puts crane flies off for some reason.

Lawns aren’t a priority round here as every year they go brown because of the weather. It would be a bit over the top and wasteful to water every single night. The magpies you get are really pretty birds, nicer looking than our magpies. Here is one of ours, nice looking enough but yours are prettier.

It’s chafer grubs that destroy our lawn……..live deep in the soil and eat the grass roots, then hatch in May and fly off to some other unsuspecting garden lovers grass after laying eggs for the next onslaught! 😡

Surely if the birds eat them then that gets rid doesn’t it? Please don’t use pesticides in your garden - it’s the reason we have one of the most nature depleted countries. We have solitary bees which dig in our grass and there are magpies busily pecking at them. Enough of the bees will survive . It’s the circle of life and all that.

I don't think the birds can keep up with them.

However, lawn grass is resilient, I know someone who had a lawn infested with leather jackets and it seems to have recovered. I think he raked it well and gave it a fertiliser.

This spring and last autumn
I had about a dozen crows feeding on my lawn every day pecking away to get to chafer grubs. They ripped out loads of moss , which was good, but the lawn was left in a very sorry state. I was advised to use nematodes this autumn. I'm glad I held back doing this for various reasons because the birds are not treating my lawn as a buffet this autumn.

We had the same problem last year and I was relieved to learn the magpies were actually doing us a favour by eating the grubs. I second the nematode suggestion - we watered them in during autumn when the soil was still warm and the lawn recovered surprisingly well. We also overseeded the bare patches in spring and nature did most of the work after that.