07-05-2025
My lawn has been destroyed by leatherjacket bugs over winter – the £17 buy that kills them & gets grass lush again
A WOMAN has been left devastated after her lawn was ruined by leatherjackets.
Remi, who lives in a new build in the UK, spent most of last year getting rid of the bugs, only for them to come back during the winter months.
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Leatherjackets are the larvae of the crane fly (daddy long-legs) and live just below the surface of the lawn until they emerge as adult flies during August to October.
They tend to damage the roots of the grass, making it die on the surface and create brown patches in the lawn.
Remi noticed the problem when she moved into her house last year and spent a lot of time getting rid of them and making her lawn green again.
But over the winter months, she neglected the problem, making it come back this summer.
Taking to social media, she said: "So the leatherjacket grubs are back!
"After all of my hard work last year, this is how fast it takes them to ruin a lawn. And this is what happens, unfortunately, when you don't keep up with nematode treatments in a new build garden.
"I got too comfortable and I thought, they're not going to come back. And if they do, it will only be a small amount. Very wrong!"
Instead of using harsh chemicals, Remi used nematodes to get rid of the pesky critters.
She used a nematode solution mixed with water and applied it all over the grass.
It costs just £16.99 from the Green Gardener and must be applied every six weeks.
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Nematodes are tiny little insects that act like parasites to other critters and kill leatherjackets without affecting your grass.
This allows your grass to grow green and lush again.
Remi revealed she used the solution last year and it worked wonders.
"I'm pretty confident that after all we've been through with them, that this lawn will be looking great again within a month," she added.
The clip soon went viral on her TikTok account @ remiclog with over 250k views and 12k likes.
People were quick to take to the comments, gutted Remi's problem had come back.
One person wrote: "Does anyone know why leatherjackets target new build gardens?"
"Terrible drainage and poor quality turf usually! (And the turf sits for ages before it goes down)," replied one viewer.
Another commented: 'I had loads in my garden, I didn't realise what they were, I have astroturf now."
"Haven't seen you on my fyp for ages! Hopefully, your garden will recover quicker now you've gained experience from last year, it may be something you need to do every year unfortunately," penned a third.
Meanwhile a fourth said: "Oh no ! after all your work last year!"
"i found a few in my garden this year and I'm so scared,' claimed a fifth.
