Pest Control
The regulation on the use of pesticides in lawn care is tightly controlled by legislation, which means that the application of professional pesticides and herbicides can only be done by trained operators who hold the NPTC certificates. This ensures that all applications are done safely without harm to people or the environment.
For croquet clubs this can be a problem and usually means that a professional has to be employed for the purpose.Some clubs appoint a member to be certificated. This is usually two days training and costs around £400. 

Worms
There are some 28 species of worm found in UK soil of which only four are of the casting
variety. They are surface feeders and the ones that can spoil the playing surface leaving
patches of bare soil after mowing. Casting worms do aerate the lawn but can also cause
extensive disruption to the playing surface. In extreme circumstances burrowing animals
such as moles and badgers can destroy huge areas of turf in their search for worms.
Until now pesticides have been the only effective method of control but these have been
withdrawn from the market and are no longer available. However, new methods of
controlling worms have evolved and do not require the application of pesticides.
In essence the maintenance programme must address the rootzone condition and convert
it into an environment that is not favoured by casting worms. The objective isn't to kill
worms, just to persuade them to go elsewhere. The most economic approach is to
incorporate a root zone conditioner into the annual maintenance programme. For more
information, please contact me

Ant Hills
Ant hills can ruin the surface of a croquet lawn and create bare patches as a result of mowing. Hitherto I have been using a Pyrethrin powder which is applied into the nest as shown below. However, this proved to be very time consuming and not totally successful. I am currently testing a new product which seems to be doing the trick. I have a few people testing it for me and if it works I will post details here.      

I discovered this video on You Tube which shows exactly what a fire ant nest looks like. Although this was filmed in the USA I imagine that it is representative of the ant nests that we get in the UK and shows just what we are up against. From this it seems that a number of ventilation shafts emanate from each nest and it is these shafts that I am filling with ant powder. If you find a better method please let me know.

Frit Fly and Leather Jackets
Chloropidae is the family of flies that are known as Frit Flies or Grass Flies. These small flies are usually  black or yellow in colour and, as their name suggests,  often inhabit grass areas. In spring the larvae can destroy the central stems of turf grasses such as bents, fescues and ryes. Sometimes there can be large infestations and these can cause significant areas of grass to turn yellow. Leather-jackets are the larvae of the Crane Fly, commonly known as Daddy Long Legs. They attack grass plants at or below ground level which then die off rapidly. Over winter damage becomes visible in the spring. They make an attractive meal for crows which peck quite large holes in their daily search for food. Leather Jackets can be controlled by using a soil nutrient/conditioner which is applied in liquid form - please contact me for details and supply.

Frit Fly

Crane Fly

Leather Jacket

Chafer Grubs

Chafer grubs are the larvae of the chafer beetle and they feed on the roots of grasses and other plants. Infestations can be very localised and sporadic and usually occur between autumn and spring. Areas of lawn might become yellowish and considerable damage can be done by crows, foxes and badgers feeding on the grubs. There are two ways of dealing with this problem, Nematodes which are applied in August to October, they are environmentally safe and do not require a licence. They can also be controlled by using a soil nutrient/conditioner which does not require pesticide certification and is applied in liquid form - please contact me for details and supply.

Chafer beetle

Chafer grub

Bird and burrowing animal damage