CR5 Issue 159 August 2018

Gardening
Lethal Leatherjackets by Pippa Greenwood
Daddy-longlegs or crane-flies
are starting to hatch out now
– you may have seen their
dangly-legged dancing as they
get into your house, clattering
against the windows and the
lights? Maybe they are not your
favourite creatures – indeed,
many shy away from them!
But these are the adults and
it is their young – known as
leatherjackets – that really cause
grief in gardens. If your lawn has
yellowing patches on it or you’ve
noticed it being ripped up in
the last few weeks, chances are
leatherjackets are to blame, and
it is likely that the problem will
get a lot worse.
So what happens? Well,
leatherjackets feed on the roots
of grass (and can also cause
problems in flowerbeds and
vegetable plots) and this may
cause the plants they attack to
be weakened and even die back;
worst of all, these juicy larvae
are an extremely tasty snack if
you happen to be an animal such
as a crow, rook, magpie, badger
or a fox. So as soon as there are
leatherjackets in your garden,
these animals come
along in search of
them, ripping up your
lawn or excavating
beds and borders in
the process. Lawns
are usually worst
affected and can
be devastated in a
matter of days.
What is the best way
to check if you have them? Early
in the evening, water a couple
of the yellowed patches really
thoroughly and do the same with
a patch that has been ripped up.
Next, cover these areas in black
polythene weighed down with
a couple of bricks or similar. A
double layer of black bin liners
will do fine or, better still, use an
opened-out plastic compost bag
as this is particularly thick plastic.
Next morning, lift the polythene
and you’ll see the pests on the
soil or lawn surface.
So how do you know
leatherjackets are to blame?
Leatherjackets are even less
good-looking than their parents:
greyish-brown, tubular, legless,
up to about 4.5cm long and so
nearly transparent that you can
often see inside them, lunch
and all.
You can remove a good number
by repeating this black polythene
trick – then, collect up the pests
and put them on the bird table
where they’ll be a useful source
of free and nutritious bird food.
If you want a much quicker,
28 Log into www.cr5.co.uk your local community website!
easier and more thorough
solution then I suggest you use
the biological control nematode
‘Nemasys Leatherjacket Killer’.
It is quick and easy to apply – I
just use a watering can and
water it onto the affected area
shortly after I’ve seen the first
daddy-longlegs and when soil
conditions are right, so usually
late August to late October. As
long as you keep the area moist
for about three or four weeks, it
works a treat – and is even safe
if you have a dog, pet rabbit or
other pets (or kids!) who use the
lawn.
So how can you get hold of
this? There are two pack sizes
available, suitable for standard
lawns or those with a very large
area to cover but you won’t
find them in garden centres as
they have a short shelf life. You
can, however, find out more
and order them from www.
pippagreenwood.com/products
in the Protect Your Plants
section. We’ll send them out by
first class post in an insulated
envelope for you to show those
pesky leatherjackets who’s the
boss!
Visit Pippa’s website www.
pippagreenwood.com and you’ll
find some great gardening items:
Nemaslug, green controls for
leatherjackets, chafer grubs, ants
and greenfly, plus garden plant
supports, raised bed kits, Easy-
Tunnels, gardening tools, Grower
Frames, signed books and more!
You can even book Pippa for
a gardening talk at your local
gardening club.