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How to repair leatherjacket damage in your lawn
Life after leatherjackets seems rather wonderful – you’ve got to the root of the problem and decimated those grizzly grubs from your lawn. Unfortunately, when brought back to reality, you will recognise that your hard work isn’t over yet, and you now need to repair leatherjacket damage they have left behind.
How bad is the damage?
If you managed to catch the leatherjackets early enough, your damage may be minimal (lucky you!) with just a few patches of dry and yellowing grass. If this is the case, apply a quick release feed such as our QUICK RELEASE: Spring/Summer or our Quick Release Liquid Fertilisers to give the grass a boost of life again.
However, the reality is that even with a nematode treatment, leatherjackets will take time to be fully removed and if they have a strong hold on your lawn, your grass may die off completely.
If you can easily pull the grass and roots up, there is no chance of rescuing the grass with fertiliser. In this case, these patches of your lawn need to be reseeded.
How to repair leatherjacket damage
Prepare the area
- Mow your lawn first as you won’t be able to do this once you start reseeding
- Scarify the dead grass away, exposing and loosening the top layer of soil
- Add topsoil if needed to level out the lawn
Sow new grass seed
- Sow your grass seed at a rate of 50g per m²
- Gently rake into the soil and firm down using your foot
- Water daily for the next 6 weeks
What grass seed should I use to repair leatherjacket damage?
The best grass seed to repair your lawn with is the grass seed that your lawn requires. There is no use trying to apply a quick fix if it isn’t established in the conditions you have. Consider your soil type (clay or sandy) and shade type.
If your soil type is normal, and this area in your lawn doesn’t suffer from the shade, we recommend our SUPERSTAR: Back Lawn for the fastest results.
If regular reseeding isn’t on your agenda, you may wish to consider our RESTORE: Self-Repair lawn, as when established, it will repair any damage on its own.