LAWN INSECTICIDE

While fungus and other lawn diseases can seriously harm your lawn, the most catastrophic damage is often caused by the larvae and grubs of common insects. These pests hatch within your lawn’s soil before feasting on the grass root, killing the lawn. Another unwanted effect of their presence is that wildlife including badgers and foxes will start to dig up your lawn looking for fat, tasty grubs to munch.

Insect infestations are more common than you might think and can be difficult to treat if you don’t know how. At Greensleeves, we offer an environmentally friendly, biological insecticide treatment that targets and eradicates some of the most common damaging insect infestations such as leatherjackets and chafer grubs.

Greensleeves insecticide

Rather than attacking your lawn with harsh chemicals, we treat it with a formula full of nematodes – living creatures that will already be living in your soil in low quantities. Nematodes are natural predators of chafer grubs, leatherjackets and many other common law pests, so once a large number are activated in your soil, they’ll actively seek out and kill the pests while not affecting the soil’s microcolony or PH balance.

How nematodes go to work

Nematodes are applied in late summer or early autumn to coincide with the most vulnerable stage in the grubs’ life cycle – this applies to both chafer grub and leather jacket. It is often ineffective and therefore expensive to apply at any other time of year. After the treatment has been applied by your lawn care expert, you need to regularly water your lawn for the next two weeks to maintain a damp soil profile. During this time, the nematodes will target and inoculate the bodies of their hosts, which stops them feeding and ultimately kills them off. The nematodes then reproduce to create the next generation, continuing the task and protecting your lawn from further attack in the following weeks.

Once the treatment has been carried out, it’s important to keep up a good turf maintenance programme so that your lawn stays in the best of health. This healthy balance will minimise the chances of these troublesome pests returning in the future. For the best chance of successful control, Greensleeves recommend that the treatment be applied each year for at least a 3-year period. Failure to do so increases the risk of an early re-infestation.

How can I tell if I need a lawn insecticide treatment?

If your lawn has a chafer grub infestation, you’ll quickly spot the grubs just a few inches into the soil. Leatherjackets are a little trickier to spot because by the time the grubs are visible in your lawn, it might be too late to treat, since they need catching at the early stages of maturity. However, it is possible to see crane flies hovering above your lawn in the evenings. Crane flies are the adult stage of leatherjackets, so if they’re lingering over your lawn, it’s a likely sign they are laying eggs.

Interested in booking an insecticide treatment?

Treatment in good time is vitally important to prevent damage when it comes to insect infestation. So contact Greensleeves today if you are worried about lawn pests in your garden.