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baldy wormy lawn

my two front lawns are bald, due to worms, there are a few sparse patches that they haven't destroyed, but the rest of it is just mud full of holes, i know they aerate the lawn but its ruined, do i re seed it or leave it any advice would be appreciated as it looks awful. .

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  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445

    Worms?



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117

    What made you think it was worms springfield? I've never known worms to cause something like that. Unfortunately  I can't get a clear enough picture when I enlarge. Can you give us more info about the conditions?

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Was this lawn treated with anything last autumn?  Weed and feed or something like that?  

    It looks to me as if what grass is still alive is in sort of regular lines, as if there may have been over-application of something using a mechanical spreader image


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • because f the immense wetness this winter i have had to re do the lawn edge, on doing this there was lots and lots of worms coming out big fat horrible ones, (which i collected up and gave to the chooks)  i did put an autumn lawn feed on around end august beginning september, it was one that comes with a spreading spout on it. there are a lot of small holes in the mud, before it got that bad there was also a lot of worm casts couldnt sweep them off ans it was too wet.

  • what do you think it could be thats caused this, what do you recommend i should do?image

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117

    Not sure what to suggest yet, but a few questions : Does the grass get a lot of sun or is it a shady aspect?  Does the grass get a lot of traffic - is it very compacted? Did you notice lots of crows/magpies pecking at it in autumn ? They would be looking for leatherjackets and can pull out loads of 'handfuls' of grass and moss when they do it which get left in clumps on the surface.  I've seen lawns look dreadful because of them.

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Dave MorganDave Morgan Posts: 3,123

    More likely to be leatherjackets worms dont cause damage to lawns, they just leave casts.

    I'd spike it give it good rake with a sprake, then re seed next month. Treat the ground with nematodes specifically for leatherjackets which you water in. It looks to have been laid as turf, the leatherjackets were probably in the turf and were imported when it was laid.

    If it was new turf, I'd complain to the supplier of the turf.

  • The worms were coming out because they were drowning in the wetness - as you say they aerate the soil - they also help to drain it - the chooks were very lucky, but next time, leave the worms where they are or put them in the flowerbeds - they are your friends. 

    It still looks to me as if that grass has been scorched by something.


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • the garden is south facing so gets plenty of sun all day (when we have it) no one walks on it apart from me when mowing the grass, its very soft now and squelchy,havnt noticed any birds on it,the grass was lovely when we bought the house three years ago, so i dont know if turf was laid before then. nematodes are those flying spidery things are they? the eggs of those?

  • just looked up leatherjackets, we did get a hell of a lot of craneflys in the autumn, had to keep the doors and windows closed there was so many, do you have any leatherjacket treatments you can recommend or know of please?

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