Everyone loves a lush green lawn. However, what everyone doesn’t like is the regular maintenance that comes with it. This also includes prevention and management of different diseases that can wreak havoc on your lawn, turning the green sheet into a patchy mess that looks more hideous than it sounds. There could be many reasons for such diseases. Sometimes, it could be bad fungal growth; other times, it could be due to a number of different pathogens.
This article will explore the different kinds of lawn diseases that could affect your grass throughout the seasons and how you can possibly avoid or treat them.
So without any ado, let’s jump in!
Common Lawn Diseases in the UK—Do You Need Help?
The Red Thread
Caused by the fungus Laetisaria fuciformis, the red thread kills the grass in different patches that are typically from 2 to 8 inches in diameter. It might affect an even larger area. But the special thing about this disease is it never affects plants, just the grass! The disease needs certain favorable conditions to thrive, which include a temperature between 60 and 75°F and extended periods of wetness. It generally appears on plants that are exposed to cool temperatures and moisture for an overly extended period of time.
Susceptible grass type: Bentgrasses, bermudagrasses, bluegrasses, ryegrasses
How to Prevent It?
Make sure to provide your grass with adequate nitrogen through proper fertilization and irrigation from season to season. Moreover, ensure adequate air circulation and evapotranspiration through proper irrigation and reduced shading. Such practices will prevent the optimal fungal growth conditions and reduce the risk of any plant disease in general and red thread in specific.
Fusarium Patch
Fusarium patch basically means the formation of circular, water-soaked patches that turn brown, often with a white or pinkish moldy edge. These patches can range from a few inches to a foot in diameter, with the grass in the middle being safe and the basal area of the dead stems being hard and tough, with a reddish rot. The cause of this disease is a fungus named Fusarium Culmorum, which thrives in drought-stressed areas in full sun, in daytime temperatures of 85-95°F.
Susceptible grass type: Smooth Stalked Meadow Grass
How to Prevent It?
It’s simple. Just avoid overfeeding your lawn in autumn. Which means no overwatering, no more than 1 pound of nitrogen per thousand square feet, and mowing at the highest recommended height.
Rust
Rust is one of the most common grass diseases that often occur in the late summer and fall, favored by low light intensity and temperature. This causes orange or brown colored patches at different spots in the grass. It turns the green grass blades into yellow, eventually causing them to wilt and die. This results in a super thin and patchy lawn, which looks much worse than it sounds.
Other than the weather and low light, other contributing factors to the disease include improper watering and high humidity levels for prolonged periods. The good news is, the disease is very easily reversible by just altering a few practices.
Susceptible grass type: Perennial ryegrass, fescues, bentgrasses, tall fescue
How to Prevent It?
It’s simple. Just make sure to not water your plants too often, and avoid mowing the grass too short. If there are any surrounding shrubs or trees that are blocking sunlight, prune them accordingly, and don’t forget to aerate your soil at least twice a year. If you want more safety, just avoid planting susceptible grass types altogether.
Fairy Rings
Well, “fairy rings” can be quite a deceptive name for such a horrible grass disease. It is characterized by the formation of dark green and usually circular bands in the lawn. However, the bands might not always be circular. They might take other shapes as well. The width of these bands can be anywhere from 12 to 14 inches, with the bands reaching up to 50 yards in diameter.
During wet or humid weather, you might also see mushrooms and toadstools grow along the circumference of the ring. With time, these rings can turn into dead patches, and at this point, they will need special treatment to reverse. It’s mainly caused when the soil has poor drainage, with a lot of buried organic matter like roots, stumps, thatch, etc. The warm and humid weather just contributes a little more.
Susceptible grass types: Fescues, bentgrasses, perennial ryegrass, smooth-stalked meadow
How to prevent it?
Fairy disease, just like many of the aforementioned, is very easily preventable. All you need to do is just take good care of your garden by doing very simple and basic jobs like regular aeration, improving drainage, timely feeding, and removing any mushrooms (if present) to prevent spores from spreading.
Powdery Mildew
Powdery mildew is one of those diseases that can infect any grass, any time of the year. However, the most susceptible types of grasses that this disease often affects include fescues, bentgrass, and bluegrass. The fungus basically causes a powdery, whitish coating to appear on the leaves and stems. This fungus grows and feeds on the grass tissue. As a result, the affected grass leaves turn yellow or brown, and the grass either becomes stunted or weakened. In the worst-case scenario, the grass could even turn dead, at which point, you’ll need to regrow the grass.
Susceptible grass types: perennial ryegrass, fescues, bentgrasses
How to prevent it?
Mildew loves shade and moisture. So what you need to do is make sure you prune all the surrounding plants around your lawn to allow more sunlight and deeply water your lawn only once or twice a week. Plus, improve the drainage with proper feeding and mowing. And well, that’s it!
Need Help Treating Your Lawn?
If your lawn has already been severely affected by any of the aforementioned diseases, or you suspect it’s in the earlier stages and need to stop it, we’re here to help! With our extensive experience managing gardens and lawns throughout the UK, we will not only treat your lawn but also make sure to leave you a very detailed instruction manual on how to avoid such diseases from recurring. Contact us now to get a quote!