Having a well-maintained lawn entails more than just watering and manicuring. You’ll have to make sure that it’s healthy, which means eliminating diseases. It isn’t easy to do, but you can reduce the risk if you’re aware of common symptoms. Most common lawn diseases are easy to prevent but may be difficult to treat once you see signs that indicate the presence of a particular disease.
If you are unsure about how to tell if something is wrong with your lawn, this blog post will help you! Here, you will learn about the most common lawn diseases and how to steer clear of them.
Common Lawn Diseases to Look Out for (And How to Avoid Them)
1 – Red Thread Disease
Red thread can be described as a brown fungus that moves slowly through the turf and causes dead patches. It is highly recommended to aerate the soil to facilitate good drainage and prevent red thread from growing.
Symptoms
Red thread disease first appears as red thread-like strands that appear on leaves of host plants. These strands will appear on the leaves but can also be found on the stems and even on the fruit. Stems may appear to be swollen, while the leaves become red-colored, eventually turning brown and drying out.
Avoidance
The best way to avoid trouble with red thread is to make sure your plants have good drainage. Be sure to aerate your soil every year and to keep it fluffy.
2 – Brown Patch Disease
Brown patch disease is a fungus that is spread by spores. It thrives in wet soils and can grow in great numbers or even kill turf in the summer. The best way to avoid brown patches is to keep your lawn well-watered but not saturated. If you have to water over a long period of time and the grass becomes saturated, you probably need to improve the drainage in your lawn.
Symptoms
Brown patch quickly becomes visible in the middle of summer. It will appear in circular patches and will be brown as it is named.
Avoidance
The main reason that brown patch shows up in your lawn is because of excess moisture. To prevent brown patch, make sure to give your grass a sufficient amount of water, but not too much. Your soil should be moist, but not soaking wet.
3 – Rust Disease
Rust disease has a similar appearance to brown patch disease. It is also caused by a fungus, but primarily affects broadleaf plants. It is best to remove affected leaves and to aerate the soil to get rid of the spores.
Symptoms
Like its name suggests, the telltale signs are light orange-red rust-colored spots. These spots will appear on the leaves in late summer and early fall.
Avoidance
The best way to avoid rust disease is to make sure there is enough space between your plants so that air can flow through. If there are too many plants in a small area, the leaves won’t dry out quickly enough, which makes them more susceptible to rust.
4 – Summer Patch Disease
Summer patch disease is a fungal disease that appear in lawns in the spring and summer months. The symptoms are similar to brown patch except that the patches appear slightly earlier in the year and there is more than one color.
Symptoms
Summer patch disease will appear as an irregular patch of death in the lawn. The patches will be off-yellow, to light brown in color, and will appear in the spring or during the summer.
Avoidance
Again, to avoid brown patch disease, you should water your lawn and not go over long periods of time. Be sure to choose a lawn that is well-suited to your climate, and take preventative steps to keep your lawn in tip-top shape.
Conclusion
As you can see, having a healthy lawn is as easy as keeping it watered and aerated. Mowing is also important. We hope this blog post will help you maintain healthy lawns.
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