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Chafer grub can pose a problem for those who prise perfect lawns , but can also be beneficial in your garden .
If you are wondering how to get rid of chafer grubs then it is likely that you have encountered a problem with your lawn .
But it is important to realise that though they can lead to a lawn that looks less than ideal , there are many reasons to want chafer grubs around .
Only some chafer grubs pose a problem in a garden , and as you will discover in this clause , not even these grubs need to be count a serious trouble at all .
say on to discover out more about chafer chuck , when you might want to get rid of them – and why , most of the clip in an organic garden , they are corking garden wildlife to have around .
Lawn damage from chafer grubs
What Are Chafer Grubs?
‘ Chafer eats ’ are the larvae of chafer mallet .
They populate below the filth , beneath lawns , in beds and borderline and in compost heaps.1Chafer grub in lawns . ( n.d . ) . Royal Horticultural Society . call back March 17 , 2023 , fromhttps://www.rhs.org.uk/biodiversity/chafer-grubs-in-lawns
There are a number of different species of chafer beetles present in UK garden .
These grubs can easily be flurry with those of muck beetles and stag beetle , though these other creatures will do no impairment in your garden and the hart beetle is an endangered species .
There are five specie of chafer beetle in the UK which are know to do lawn damage.2Lifecycle and dominance of Chafer grubs , the larvae of the chafer overhang . ( n.d . ) . Agrovista Amenity . call back March 17 , 2023 , fromhttps://amenity.agrovista.co.uk/technical-updates/common-pests-in-the-uk-chafer-grubs/
Turf Damage
The main grubs which pose a possible job for gardener are Smaller garden chafers ( Phyllopertha horticola ) and Welsh chafers ( Hoplia philanthus ) .
These type of chafer grub are most commonly see underneath areas of greensward .
They can be regard as a trouble because they can destruct the ancestor organisation of grasses in a lawn – though they will not usually pose a menace to other matured industrial plant coinage .
Lawns can also be damaged by wildlife digging up the lawn to retrieve them .
Other species found in the UK includethe cockchafer ( Melolontha melolontha)and the summer chafer ( Amphimallon solstitiale ) which will very occasionally run on and damage the roots of plant in a bed or edge , around the edges of a lawn.3Chafer chow in garden molding . ( n.d . ) . Royal Horticultural Society . recall March 17 , 2023 , fromhttps://www.rhs.org.uk/biodiversity/chafer-grubs-in-garden-borders
But these are usually not a job in a garden .
All mintage of chafer , as you will discover below , have benefit within the garden ecosystem .
One species – the Rose chafer grub ( Cetonia aurata ) can be particularly good and is often foundwithin a composting system , where they lend a help hand in break off down constituent topic .
What Do Chafer Grubs Look Like?
Chafer grubs are chubby white eats with body curl into a ‘ atomic number 6 ’ shape .
They have light brown heads and three duad of pegleg close to the pass end of their bodies .
These grubs can reach a distance of up to around 18 millimetre tenacious – full-grown than the adults of the species .
Lawn damage from chafer grubs
Larger chafer grubs such as the cockchafer and summer chafer can have gravid larva up to 30 mm in length.4Mumford , C. ( 2015 , April 22).Chafer grub Q&A. Pitchcare . Retrieved March 17 , 2023 , fromhttps://www.pitchcare.com/news-media/chafer-grub-q-a-for-pitchcare.html
One thing to comport in head is that it is very difficult to distinguish between the different chow of unlike chafer species , and also unmanageable to secernate those of chafer beetles from those of other mallet .
Only if you find these under your turf , and see hurt to the lawn , should you adopt that these are feeding on the root and that they may be a trouble in your garden .
Chafer Grubs In A Lawn
As mentioned above , the only chafer eats that can really pose an provocation to gardeners are little garden chafers and welsh chafers that can damage a lawn .
If there is a serious plague in a lawn , damage will be most cleared between September and April , when the grubs are at their most combat-ready and are come near maturity date .
Signs Of Infestation
If chafers have been eating roots in a lawn , patch may become yellowed and conk out back .
But a revealing sign that chafer grubs are present is the brainsick area of the lawn , where birds such as corvids ( members of the crow kin ) , foxes or badgers have dug to retrieve and eat them .
Gardeners who prize a perfect lawn may be nettle by the destruction , which can soon turn a neat and orderly area of sod into what looks like a stone minefield .
While other wildlife , such as leatherjackets , can also cause country of lawn to give way back , these will not usually be unearthed in the same way as chafer chuck by other beast .
In May or June , if you have a magnanimous infestation , you will see grownup mallet fly up from the turf in large figure , usually in the evening as the luminousness begins to fade .
In an organic garden , it is certainly worthwhile remembering that there are many more utile way to use the quad in your garden that will be far more beneficial to you ( and to the environmental science of the site ) than a lawn .
So if you are not capable to maintain a perfect lawn , consider replace it witha hayfield garden , a veg plot , or even a beautiful and rich intellectual nourishment forest .
Prevention
With more diverse and abundant , eco - well-disposed planting schemes , chafer grubs are far less likely to be a problem .
If you do wishto keep a lawn , then keep it well - water and fed .
Though please make certain to apply only constituent fertilisers , and never synthetic fertilisers or herbicides , which pose a threat to the environment , wildlife and people.5Fertilisers | Agriculture and Land - Use . ( n.d . ) . The RSPB . Retrieved March 17 , 2023 , fromhttps://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/policy-insight/england-westminster/farming-and-land-use/land-use-and-nature/fertilisers/
Problems are more likely to take hold in a lawn that is less heavily grapple .
Preventing moss growth may also help to avoid a damaging population .
Biological Solutions
In very uttermost case , there is a biological control available .
Gardeners can irrigate inHeterohabditis bacteriophoranematodes any time when temperature are between 12 - 20 ° atomic number 6 – unremarkably between July and September .
These nematodes infect the larvae with a calamitous bacterial disease .
However , this is the ‘ nuclear alternative ’ , and should only ever be viewed as a last resort .
Organic Control
If the population of chafer eats in a lawn has become undue , this should be taken as a signboard that the ecosystem is out of balance .
In an organic garden , advance biodiversity and maintaining a rude balance in the garden ecosystem is an important part of the puzzler .
undue number of chafer grubs may be a sign that there are insufficient identification number of their natural vulture in the ecosystem .
Attracting more rooks , crows , magpies , jays , foxes , badgers etc . to your garden is one of the best shipway to keep their numbers under ascendance .
verify you have slew of habitat and diverse planting to attract a panoptic range of wildlife into your garden .
Chafer Grub Garden Benefits
The chief intellect why chafer grub can be a right thing in your garden is that all coinage are important food sources for grub - eating wildlife .
All constitutional garden should have some ‘ plague ’ , because it is only when these creature are present that natural biodiversity will be asseverate and their predators will be present too .
So do not be too quick to get rid of chafer grubs all .
“ Most garden with surface area of supergrass will have chafer grubs but never notice any damage , ” Horticultural Consultant Colin Skelly sum up .
“ Where there is repeated severe damage , consider changing the use of the surface area but this would be a uncommon consideration .
“ In oecumenical , see chafer grubs as part of the garden ecosystem . If you hit them , you are dispatch food for the more magnetic birds and larger wildlife that you want to see in your garden . ”
