Pest Management

We provide lawn pest control services for clients in Norfolk & Suffolk. If you have an insect infestation in your garden, our experienced lawn maintenance specialists can identify the problem and treat it using an appropriate insecticide.

What is a turf pest?
A turf pest is simply a small creature that lives in your lawn and feeds on your grass and grass roots. They cause significant damage and discolouration and can ultimately kill your lawn if left untreated.

When should I treat lawn pests?
Lawn pests usually appear during the late summer and early autumn months, this is when you should pay particular attention to your lawn and its inhabitants.

Why should you treat lawn pests?
Unfortunately, lawn pest infestations can go unnoticed for weeks because many lawn pests originate and thrive underneath the soil. We recommend taking action the minute you detect a lawn pest infestation might be developing in your lawn to prevent extensive damage.

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Ant Control for Lawns

Is your lawn infested with ants? This is a common problem and we are frequently asked to remove ants from our customers’ gardens.

Ants can cause a variety of problems in your outdoor space, but most notable are the mounds of soil that the colonies produce. These can create raised spots on the lawn, which then get ‘scalped’ during mowing – that is, most of the grass plant is removed, creating bare areas for weeds or moss to colonise.

If you need help removing the ants from your lawn, please call Professional Lawn Services on 01379 687675.

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 How to Get Rid of Ants

The ants’ mounds of fine earth should be allowed to dry out, then brushed vigorously with a heavy-bristled brush to sweep the soil particles evenly across the lawn.

Next, a trowel should be used to dig into the nest. Apply ant powder deep into the nest, then replace the soil/grass. This approach is more effective than spreading the ant powder on the surface of the lawn (which risks scorching the grass).

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Leatherjacket Control

For leatherjackets, lawn grass makes for an inviting home. Unfortunately for homeowners, they don’t make for very good tenants! If you have leatherjackets in your lawn, Professional Lawn Services can help you get the problem under control.

Leatherjackets are crane fly larvae. The fly lays its eggs in the ground – often a lawn – in August or September (dependent on soil temperature). The maggots that emerge from those eggs are known as leatherjackets, and once they have hatched, they will start to eat the grass stem and roots just below the surface of the lawn.

Crane fly eggs tend to hatch during the autumn, so damage from leatherjackets in your lawn may appear in November or December depending on the scale of the problem. The larvae can continue to grow and cause problems all the way through winter and into early spring if left unchecked.

Without leatherjacket control measures, these grubby soil-dwellers can strip whole lawns, turning the grass brown as they destroy the roots. The resulting bare patches can then be colonised by moss and weeds, causing further issues for your lawn.

You should also be aware that birds and mammals cause extra damage as they dig for leatherjackets in your lawn. They will ravage the ground as they hunt for these gourmet grubs, so we highly recommend contacting us about leatherjacket control measures at the first sign of their emergence! Keep your eyes peeled between August and October when these pests are most prevalent.

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 What Does a Leatherjacket Look Like?

• No legs

• Brown-grey colour

• Cylindrical shape

• Mandibles at one end

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 Signs of Leatherjackets in Your Lawn

• Grass turning yellow despite rainfall

• Bare patches near shady areas

• Birds pecking at your lawn and trying to eat the larvae

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 How to Remove Leatherjackets

If faced with an infestation of leatherjackets, lawn treatment is a wise choice. Professional Lawn Services can be reached at 01379 687675 – our specialist services are available in Norfolk & Suffolk.

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Upon identifying leatherjackets in a lawn, we usually recommend the following:

• Apply liquid insecticide (1-2 treatments in autumn or spring)

• Alternatively, granular insecticide can be spread on the lawn as a preventative measure in the summer

• Nematodes (small, worm-like insects that eat leatherjackets) may be introduced to the lawn in August or other periods of dry weather.

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Repairing Damage Caused by Leatherjackets

When it comes to leatherjackets, lawn damage can be serious if they aren’t dealt with swiftly and effectively. In fact, if leatherjackets have caused havoc in your garden, there is a chance that your grass may not grow back even once the infestation is under control. Depending on the scale of the damage, we may recommend:

• Using herbicide to control any weeds that have appeared

• Scarifying to remove dead moss

• Aerating to improve ventilation

• Top dressing and overseeding

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Chafer Grub Control

Do you have a chafer grub problem you need to get under control?

Here at Professional Lawn Services, we provide specialist chafer grub control services for outdoor spaces.

Lawns laid on sandy ground may be prone to damage from chafer grubs; the same goes for gardens in sandy light-soil areas. If your garden is susceptible to chafer grubs, it’s important you keep a close eye on your lawn to spot early signs of an infestation.

 Signs of Chafer Grubs in Lawn

• Brown Areas on Lawn Damaged areas can rapidly increase in size as the lawn grubs continue to eat away at your lawn. In some cases, the damage is so great and so rapid that it is possible to lift entire sections of turf off the ground because the grass roots have become completely disconnected.

• Birds Looking for Food Birds pecking at your turf may mean that you have a chafer grub infestation. The grubs are a popular food source for birds, and even other types of wildlife like foxes and badgers may be interested in feasting on your lawn’s chafer grubs. Letting predators eat the grubs will not necessarily control their numbers, always seek the help of grub control specialists.

• More Damage in Summer Damage to your lawn will increase as the chafer grubs grow larger and increase in number over the course of the summer. The lawn grubs prefer sandy soil and will burrow in deeper during periods of cold weather. Keep an eye out for these seasonal patterns.

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 Grub Control Treatment

Chafer grub control is relatively simple and inexpensive, but it can be difficult to find a specialist capable of providing it. The appropriate pesticide must be applied by a competent professional, and once applied, is usually fully effective within 72 hours.

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Mole Control for Lawns

Moles frequently invade lawns and gardens in search of worms and other food sources. Rest assured they aren’t damaging your lawn just for fun – rather, they are establishing a set of tunnels in which to trap worms.

Moles dislike noise, vibrations and strong smells. Some people recommend moth balls, but we have had mixed success with this method at best.

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 How We Get Rid of Moles

Professional Lawn Services can treat your lawn to encourage the worms (which, remember, is what the moles are after) to burrow deeper and avoid the mole tunnels. With their food source gone, the moles should move away from your garden to hunt for sustenance elsewhere.

Traps and poisons are not an effective long-term solution, although they can be profitable for mole catchers: in our experience, killing a mole results in another mole replacing it, and so on until their food source is gone!

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 Preventing Future Mole Problems

Once the moles have left your lawn, we recommend regular lawn maintenance to prevent them from coming back.

Keeping your grass from getting too long will ensure that you can spot the signs of moles if they return to your lawn. If possible, don’t let your lawn get too soggy as worms (and thus moles) are attracted to wet earth.