A week ago the team at Greener Gardens we were concerned about the dryness of lawns but during the last eight days have seen some very wet weather which combined with the mild temperatures is causing other lawn issues.
Keep a watch on your lawn for the following:
- Red Thread and fungal diseases
- Ants in lawns
What is Red Thread?
Red Thread is often seen on lawns in the UK from mid summer, it loves this warm wet weather. It is often seen on fine fescue lawns, but can develop on all lawn types. It is a fairly minor disease that in most cases does relatively little damage, but can spoil a well-kept lawns appearance. It is spread by spores within the air.
What treatments can be used?
On many occasions an application of fertiliser is more than sufficient to promote lawn growth, affected grasses would then be removed by cutting. The feed will also strengthen the plant, enabling it to “outgrow” the disease. We can also apply a fungicide treatment.
Can anything be done now?
Normally the promoting of new growth with the fertiliser will help, as you then cut out the active fungal growth. We would suggest to check to see if you’re looking at the primary effect i.e. red spikes or the secondary effect of the brown ‘straw like grasses’, affected brown grasses will not revert to green, until new grass growth occurs.
If it is red spikes of fungal activity that you can see, this is already the later development stages, an application of a feed would be beneficial, combined with a frequent cut to remove the affected grasses, but you may choose to treat with a contact fungicide for additional protection.
For best results the fungicide should be applied soon after cutting. Our fungicide will give up to 4 weeks protection. If you would like us to treat your lawn, we can provide a quotation for this.
If you want to treat yourself, we would suggest using a product called Bayer Lawn Disease control* is applied, if necessary. (Manufacturers web site Bayer Lawn Disease Control )
Notes: Use as directed and always read and follow the manufactures instructions before use.
Please remember that, similar to taking antibiotics, after you have applied a fungicide. It doesn’t guarantee you never get the symptoms again.
Controlling Ants
Ant hills left untreated will make your lawn uneven, they can be dispersed by brushing the soil when conditions are dry, this will avoid smearing them on the lawn when mowing.
Most ant species build underground nests. Worker ants dig tunnels and chambers, or rooms, in the soil. As the colony grows, workers add more tunnels and chambers to the nest. Ant colonies can grow to be quite large, their nests may reach 6 meters below the ground.
We recommend Ant Stop granule applied as a drench, repeating applications as required – More product details and available in our shop or direct from the van.
If you require any further information please see our Info section on the web site, or e-mail us.