What's destroying my lawn and can I do anything to save it?

[TheBeesKnee]

We leveled the garden and laid turf this summer. It was perfect.

Something has been digging it up to the point that it's now more dirt than grass. It's lumpy and the lawnmower cuts some parts too short and others too long. It's an absolute mess and so depressing.

I don't know if it's squirrels or worms or something else but it's just getting worse and worse.

We've tried picking up the dirt mounds but they're wet and stuck to the grass so it's hard to do anything without leaving bald patches behind.

Please help!

Desperate and inexperienced gardener (this is our first house with a garden, can you tell?)

Have you got any holes at the bottom of your fences ?
could be badgers snuffle holes or moles tunnelling from below

They are worm casts, and it is actually desirable to have worms in the garden, they are very good for the soil.

It is a relatively new lawn so if I were you, I'd keep off it entirely for the winter when it is really wet, and just sprinkle some grass seed on the bare patches. In dry weather, use a broom to gently sweep the worm casts away before mowing.

Leather jackets. Google them.

I agree with pp about wormcasts. Happens every year at this time and is a sign of fertility and good garden health. Besides, the more worms you have the more birds you will get 😉

No, it isn't leatherjackets. The turf is relatively new and any eggs laid last autumn would have been treated by the commercial turf grower to kill the larvae. They wouldn't want pests eating their stock of growing turf, and it is too soon for there to be any damage from larvae hatched from eggs laid this autumn.

Thank you, should we do anything now? We will probably need to mow it at least once more before winter.

It's hard to keep the toddler off the grass because he loves being outside and it's a bit of a trek to the local park.

Maybe mow it once more this week with the lawnmower blades set high, and then try to wrangle your toddler keep off it entirely until next year. Then you can put some grass seed down on the bare patches in early spring, and it will soon take off and fill the gaps.