My lawn was beautiful last summer but now it’s a state – I found the culprit & you need to watch out for it too
ACHIEVING a luscious green lawn is quite the arduous task and can take months and months of hard work.
So it’s little surprise one woman was left devastated after her “pride and joy” was ruined in an instant – and it was all due to a little-known culprit that you’ve probably never even heard of.
In a clip posted to TikTok, the homeowner named Liv shared a snap of her once healthy looking grass and wrote: “I’m not being funny, but this was our lawn last summer, and look at the f***ing state of it now.”
Despite what it may look like at first glance, she went on to explain that she hadn’t actually neglected her lawn.
In fact, she revealed it was quite the opposite, adding that “blood, sweat and tears” had gone into getting it a lush shade of green.
However, fast forward to now and it appears to be a very different story, with her once bright green grass filled with yellow-brown dead patches.
Moments later, she seen can be seen zooming into the soil after finally discovering the reason as to why.
I’m not being funny, but this was our lawn last summer, and look at the f***ing state of it now
Liv
And the answer? Leatherjackets.
But while you may only be familiar with the type you wear, leatherjackets in the insect form are actually baby daddy long legs that can wreak havoc to your lawn – and thrive in damp environments.
She captioned the post: “The war is on!”
It wasn’t long before the post went viral, garnering a whopping 221k views and several comments, with many sharing their own experiences of the little-known insect.
“You need nematodes twice a year,” recommended one.
What are leatherjackets?
“Leatherjackets are the soil-dwelling larvae of crane-fly (daddy long legs),” explains garden experts Thompson and Morgan.
So, how do you recognise them? Well, they tend to be around 30mm long and have greyish-brown bodies and no legs.
“They can be found growing underneath lawns, feeding on grass roots until they pupate and emerge as crane flies between August and October, then they lay the next generation of leatherjackets,” the experts continue.
The pesky bugs also thrive in damp conditions and the larvae will continue to feed throughout the year, resulting in even more damage to your lawn.
Signs of leatherjacket damage
- Yellow or brown dead patches in your grass
- Found in the surface layers of the soil beneath your lawn
- As they turn into adult crane flies, they’ll emerge in the summer and empty pupal cases that’ll stick up above the lawn surface
- Birds may create small holes in your grass as they try and hunt around for leatherjackets
A second commented: “I had no idea what these things were until recently hand now every other video on my fyo is about leather jackets.”
“When you said leather jackets I thought a load of bikers had come on your lawn…” joked a third.
Meanwhile, a fourth noted: “It’s poor drainage. Leather Jackets are in every lawn in every garden and they don’t do this damage.”
Another added: “Ours was the same! New build houses – we did nematodes and it did help, but it was bad drainage so we ripped it all up!”
And a further chimed in: “You’ll never get rid of them unless you make sure your garden isn’t majorly damp. they thrive off damp.”