LAWN DISEASE
What is wrong with my lawn?
At Expert Lawn Care, we have the knowledge and products to treat and cure most problems in your lawn by using the latest and safest fungicides and other appropriate treatment. In most cases, we try to avoid using fungicides and prefer to treat the disease by improving grass health.
Most lawn diseases are spread by spores and relate to lawn and soil conditions. The spread of disease will be worse if your lawn grass is in poor health.
There are numerous diseases that can affect grass and we have listed some of the most common ones below:
Red Thread
This increasingly common disease usually occurs in the late summer after periods of warm weather with heavy rainfall producing conditions of high humidity.
Lawns with poor fertility are highly susceptible to red thread disease. The grass will gradually show signs of browning off with brown patches of dying grass appearing and you will see red threads on the grass stalks. High humidity, poor fertility and/or blunt lawn mower blades smashing the grass ends are usually the cause of red thread.
Serious cases may require an application of fungicide to control the disease. The lawn usually recovers in 2/3 weeks after treatment.
Avoid watering late in the evenings as this encourages disease.
Mushrooms and Toadstools or Fungi
Fungi are nature’s dustmen. Fungi convert dead organic matter into basic nutrients that re-enter the food chain and are eventually recycled.
A few mushrooms or toadstools appearing in your lawn is a healthy indication that the fungi in your soil are active and are normally breaking something down such as an old tree root buried in the soil.
The fungi appear on the surface and contain spores which are released into the atmosphere. If your lawn has a heavy concentration of fungi, then it may be necessary to treat your lawn.
However just a few mushrooms here and there on your lawn will not be harmful.
Snow Mould
Snow mould occurs at cool times of the year. Brown patches appear, followed by fluffy white growth.
Fusarium Patch
Indications of Fusarium Patch are yellow brown patches in your lawn that are usually found during autumn and a white/grey mould in shaded areas. Lawns receiving too much nitrogen feed are susceptible to this disease, as well as lawns on compacted soil.
Aerating and ensuring the grass receives a balanced fertiliser feed program can cure Fusarium patch. Serious infections will require treatment with fungicide.
Dry Patch or Hydrophobic Dry Patch
Dry Patch occurs during periods of dry weather when a fungus builds up around the soil particles and has the effect of repelling the water droplets in the soil. A severe case of dry patch will result in the soil being almost unable to absorb water and rain will run across the surface of the soil, like water on a glass plate. The grass suffers as moisture is unable to reach the roots.
Aerating your soil by spiking or hollow tine aeration, combined with an application of a wetting agent to tackle the fungal disease will improve the water absorption properties of the soil and benefit the grass. Dry patch is increasingly becoming a problem in our dry, windy summers.