In the last week, I have seen a series of holes in my lawn (lived here for 30 years and never seen them happen before).

1. Any idea what is causing them?
2. How do I stop them?
3. How to repair current holes?

I'm not a lawn perfectionist, but they are annoying!

 

I think that's an animal scraping to find worms etc. 

2 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

I think that's an animal scraping to find worms etc. 

LOL 🤣

1. Any idea what is causing them?
2. How do I stop them?
3. How to repair current holes?

1. Not sure what local species you have over there? Mole?  Badger?  Squirrel?  Fox?  Rig up a night vision camera so we can all see!

2. Set up a pop up food stall offering worms.

3. Level the ground with dirt from the border and spread some grass seed on it.

1 minute ago, TomsFocus said:

1. Not sure what local species you have over there? Mole?  Badger?  Squirrel?  Fox?  Rig up a night vision camera so we can all see!

2. Set up a pop up food stall offering worms.

3. Level the ground with dirt from the border and spread some grass seed on it.

I'm guessing your gardening expertise pretty much equals mine then LOL

Just now, StephenFord said:

I'm guessing your gardening expertise pretty much equals mine then LOL

Lol, gardening isn't hard.  Dealing with animals really isn't my area though!

If you want some actual gardening tips, add a little sand to the grass seed and mound it higher than the lawn as it'll sink over a month or so.  Then cover it with some mesh to stop birds nicking the seed before it germinates.

Lately I keep finding holes in my lawn caused by magpies digging for worms etc. I have watched them out of my window. I’m not that bothered myself but my wife keeps going on about it. 

1. Rory McIIroy has moved in next door.

2 & 3 Break his arms after telling him to replace his divots.

Seriously if it is an animal then my money would be on a Badger. They have powerful claws and can use them delicately rather than the frenzied way a dog would normally dig.

If it is a Badger, be thankful they have not decided to use your garden as a latrine, they tend to communally use the same spots.

15 hours ago, StephenFord said:

I'm guessing your gardening expertise pretty much equals mine then LOL

If you don’t want to buy grass seed-you could lose some of your grass border and cut pieces of turf to fit.

Don't just chuck seed on the lawn.

You need to score the marks and agitate the soil, then can add either some lawn dressing or multi purpose compost with the seed mixed in. Spread it evenly and try not to clump it.

This time of the year I'd be inclined to give the entire lawn a good rake and aerate it prior to doing the above and then over seed the entire lawn in readiness for the spring next year.

As for sand, be very careful which sand you choose and at what ratio to soil (4 parts soil to 1 part sand) as some will burn the grass and you will be left with barren scorched areas.

47 minutes ago, Tizer said:

1. Rory McIIroy has moved in next door.

2 & 3 Break his arms after telling him to replace his divots.

Seriously if it is an animal then my money would be on a Badger. They have powerful claws and can use them delicately rather than the frenzied way a dog would normally dig.

I would happily break his arms just for the accent he has developed alone LOL Now I have seen a badger before in my back garden though that was years ago, but he never caused me any hassle. Maybe he has come back?

In the meantime, I have just ordered a couple of strong PIR floodlights (to replace very old simple switched halogen floods). Maybe the instant bright light may scare them off to a neighbours garden!

43 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

Now I have seen a badger before in my back garden though that was years ago, but he never caused me any hassle. Maybe he has come back?

At this time of year I would expect Badgers to be fattening up for winter, so one or more of them might be venturing further afield, or it may be a young male that has been excluded from the main Sett for whatever reason. It may also be because there are some soil living grubs that are in the stages of emerging at this time of year. They also do sometimes eat Bulbs.

Either way there is not much that you can do about them. If there is a big Sett nearby you would know because you would be able to hear them play at certain times of the year. The same thing might happen for a few weeks then likely if it is just one it will move elsewhere.

When I lived in England we had Badgers visiting every night to feed on the peanuts that we left out and I did rig up a dedicated security light to alert us, they were not at all bothered about the light. When it timed out and they triggered it again they would just look up at the PIR for a second because it clicked and carried on doing what they were doing.

They do tend to use the exact same route into a garden, with a couple of secondary escape routes so you could try to block off the route but it may see that as a challenge because they can climb and are strong as well.

I've just spent 15 minutes reliving my misspent youth thanks to this thread.  

 

 

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

I've just spent 15 minutes reliving my misspent youth thanks to this thread.

Obviously an age thing, that show passed me right by LOL This is my childhood!

 

I was just thinking I haven't seen any recent kids programmes, no idea what youngsters watch today...  In the 90s/00s every afternoon was full of kids stuff so unavoidable regardless of age.  Of course, they have thier own channels nowadays!!  

Just be thankful you don't have a whippet. My entire garden looks like that, only about 1000x worse!