lawn being dug up every night!

Thanks guys, all good ideas - still going on, will try the wire - no dogs as I have my own, and no other dog could get into here. Forgot to mention all my dahlias have been eaten so I suspect it is a rascally rabbit! will also try the teabags trick, although i have no idea what jeyes fluid is!

 

Jeyes fluid is a strong disinfectant with a malodorous smell! Gardeners use it for disinfecting greenhouse, tubs and pots in the off season. It's an old, old product that was in danger of being banned under EEC regs (or so I believe) but whilst it's not widely obtained, you can still get small cans of it in garden centres and DIY places that have garden sections.

Be careful with it though, and make sure you keep it in a safe place, well out of the reach of children and animals and after use, thoroughly rinse anything you use to mix it in.

 

Can your dog get out at night? If you are suffering from badgers or rabbits the dog might help! My nieghbours lawn is attacked by badgers but my dogs see that mine isn't. Badgers are often after chafer grubs in lawns and trying to get rid of them would be a good strategy. [Try spreading plastic over freshly watered lawn. When you lift it in the morning, the grubs will have surfaced for the birds to eat]. Jeyes fluid is excellent stuff, very good for blackspot on roses too.

 

My dog is a little westie, who i suspect would come off worse if confronted with a badger - more new to report: there is apparently a badger set at the end of the spare block of land behind me..so perhaps I could try the plastic approach..
another question: who knows how I can get a cat to stop sleeping on my convertible roof and shedding copious amounts of white fur? I have no garage..

 

It sounds very mean but try sprinkling chili powder on the top. This won't harm the cat but will be definitely unpleasant!

 

cheers Liz, will do it now!

 

Poor puss!

 

I have a similiar problem. Yesterday morning it looked as if someone had walked over a small area with rigby boots on, although the grass and earth wasn't depressed. This morning some of the circles had grown to about 1 1/2" in diameter. On close inspection they appear black with earth showing, some of the grass appears dead and cut. does anyone know the reason and a cure. I would of thought its too small for any of the animals mentioned.

 

That sounds like you've got birds feeding on Chafer Grubs Steve. The bulk of the mess is made by the birds digging, but the grass dying off is due to the grubs eating away at the roots.

Have a look here and see if it looks like your problem - I've got no idea how well this stuff works, but there isn't much else in the way of domestically available treatments.

Interestingly, chafer grub damage increases in correlation with how healthy your lawn is - and they often come back year after year :(