I did wonder that.
Disappointing to hear poor drainage being the likely cause again as it seems like the hardest to resolve.
The run-off isn't actually that great there - it only amounts to around 0.5sqm as the rest of the patio slopes towards a couple of drains by the house (more photos at
Mathew
My back lawn Always looks like that in winter. In summer it recovers.
The intention is to bring the leatherjackets to the surface to confirm the diagnosis. It's a traditional method of treatment. The leatherjackets can then be collected up and destroyed, or fed to the birds, whatever. The OP may have to do it several times to get them all, and do only small sections at a time otherwise the exposed grubs will all burrow back down again before he can get at them.
To the OP: have you seen lots of bird activity on your lawn this winter, such as crows or starlings poking their beaks into the soil, or did you see lots of crane flies (aka daddy-longlegs) flying around in the autumn? The grubs are a dirty greyish cream colour, about an inch (2.54cm!) long and burst with a satisfying pop if you squeeze them hard enough. But if it's an infestation it needs treatment. The bad news is that I believe all the insecticides that work and were available to the amateur gardener have been banned and withdrawn. The good news is that there is a biological control available, a nematode that enters the leatherjacket and eats it from the inside. Best applied in the autumn (applied with a watering can AIUI), but it's mild ATM and I guess you could try now, and again in the autumn to catch next season's newly hatched grubs. This year's grubs will pupate at the end of the summer and hatch in the autumn, so be prepared for an invasion of crane flies then.
We're on clay, and we get standing water on our lawn when it's wet.
The grass grows fine - though I suppose it's had long enough to select for varieties that cope.
"uk.rec.gardiening" - close but no cigar. You mean uk.rec.gardening - I'll see you there.
Andy
It looks as though its become waterlogged and the roots have died. The worms will have being doing a lot of good by aerating the soil.
This autumn/winter my lawn/soil has often been very wet for longish periods and I have a couple of feet of light loam before hitting a clay like soil. My lawn still looks very green but some of that is moss.
The weed fabric trick worked perfectly and brought a whole variety of things to the surface in a single square foot (all images high res for zooming):
Of note were 50 or so of these:
And a fair number of these (mature version of the above?):
Mathew
I am fearing it being a waterlogging issue. It has rained all night and thi s morning the soil was pretty sodden.
When the weather improves I will try forking the lawn and brushing in some sand to see if that helps. I am kicking myself now as given I installed the whole thing I can't help but think how relatively straightforward it would have been to put in some drainage beforehand...
+1. I'm sure it's the norm pretty much everywhere, it certainly is on the lawn I lovingly "restored" last Spring. Just think, in the hot summer we're going to have, you won't be panicking about moisture retention. Re time and motion, try whacking one of these as deep as you can
I use mine for all manner of stuff in the garden.
The grubs look very like leatherjackets, see this lot
'Time and motion'?
I don't know if this has specifically been mentioned but along with heavy spiking I've seen a technique where you bore holes (50mm diameter or so) every so often though the lawn, sub soil and ideally though the clay and fill them (just short of the top) with sharp sand. Put the soil back on top and it may help with the drainage. At least you wouldn't have to dig the whole lot up. ;-)
Cheers, T i m
If you had put in drainage we would have had a prolonged dry period and your drainage would have removed the much needed water. You cannot win.
Presumably those to be disposed of could be left in a dish for the birds?
Indeed, provided they can't crawl back to the lawn. Starlings, jackdaws and crows love them.
Thanks - I'll try and look at it that way! ;-)
Afraid I can't offer a great deal, beyond the comment that something very similar has happened to my neighbour's last-season's turf. Looked very healthy over the summer. S.Yorkshire, very rainy winter.
Incidentally, what's going on in this picture:
Specifically, the space between levels, propped apart by the post?!
It was just in the middle of excavation of the sub-base - I was levering up the solid slab base with an old post. Not sure why the photo made the album - perhaps just as a reminder of what the sub-base looked like!
You know, the least labour intensive way to achieve the desired result. You can get very long sds bits which might be easier than hammering in (and removing) a cold chisel. As Tim says, boring holes could work
Ta! I tend to the same :-)
Many many years ago, my late father did some turfing of an area with a clay soil, some way down. After about three years things went wrong after a particularly wet spell. I can only suspect that the water table became so high and could not drain and the roots just rotted in the parts where the effect was worst. Unfortunately come the spring he had a nice lawn of everything except grass. It seems some grass is not very good at exploiting these conditions, whereas weeds and other plants are. Don't ask, but let me say that to this day I have a mixed up lawn, but as I cannot see it I don't care any more!
Brian
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