If brown areas appear in the lawn in spring, it is often the fault of the meadow crane fly. You can find out how to fight the meadow cranefly here.
Larvae hatch in spring
The brown spots in the lawn are caused by the larvae of the meadow crane fly. These are laid on the ground in the previous year and then hatch in the spring. They live underground and feed on the roots of grasses. Pest control is not allowed on the lawn, and it is not very advisable to use such agents if your children are playing on the lawn. Just try our tips instead.
Fighting crane flies - 4 tips
- The tipula larvae, as they are called by experts, do not like calcium cyanamide. If this is applied to the lawn, you can significantly reduce the population.
- Nematodes (roundworms) can also help to fight the larvae. You can order them online or get them in specialist shops. They are simply added to the irrigation water and placed in the ground like this.
- Night owls can also collect the larvae by mixing wet wheat bran with sugar in a ratio of 10:1 and applying it to the affected area. The larvae then come out at night and you can simply collect them. Of course, this is only possible if small parts are infested and not the entire lawn.
- If nothing helps, scarifying always helps. After that, however, you would have to reseed the lawn.