ladderback infestation??

neil morris2

Hello everyone, I thought that it would be best to ask the experts. Our grass has slowly been dying from the edges in and little has helped this. I was out beginning to dig over and reseed my front lawn when my neighbour prompted me to stop. She has had somebody round who has said we have a ladderback infestation caused by what I think she said was daddy long legs.. We both have lots of,, what look like inch long chubby world under the grass,, which are supremely eating the roots. She has been charged 400 pound to sort out the problem using chemicals and what not and I am hoping to avoid the cost. I searched the internet but have found nothing on ladder back. All I have found is saddle back which I am hoping is not the case. Does anybody have any ideas as to where I might find more information on the cause of this??

Victoria Sponge

Hi Neil,

I think they're called leatherbacks? Something like that?

 No leather jackets...  

Dovefromabove

I think we're talking about leatherjackets - the larvae of the crane fly also known as daddy long legs.  The adults lay their eggs in the lawn and the grubs eat the roots before pupating and turning into more crane flies 

You might find that birds have been digging holes in your lawn in order to access this delicacy 

You can get rid of them by applying nematodes in the autumn - there are lots of earlier threads on this, here is one with more details  http://www.gardenersworld.com/forum/problem-solving/what-is-hapenning-to-my-lawn-in-the-winter/228998.html 

neil morris2

Thank you for the help.. Now I have the right name there is a lot more information!! Looks Like I'm on damage control until the autumn!!