The South Manchester Lawn Care Blog

Small circular brown patches on your lawn? Your grass could have a red-thread infection!

2012-05-15T13:40:00.003+01:00

In the North West of England, we are currently experiencing a prolonged period of warm, wet weather. Such conditions are perfect for the spread of fungal infections throughout lawn turf, as damp grass traps spores and creates the ideal environment for their growth.

The most common, especially at the moment, is the fungus commonly called "Red Thread" (laetisaria fuciformis), and I am seeing it in a great many lawns in the area.

Once you know what you are looking for, it can be very easily spotted, but, more often than not, many lawn owners just accept the fact that their lawn "looks a bit off-colour" and don't get down to have a look at what is really causing the problem.

Circular patches of dead grass are an indication of a red thread infection

Red thread can be easily spotted using the following process. Firstly stand back and have a look at the overall lawn. If you can see faint, circular, straw-coloured patches rather randomly dotted around the lawn, or an overall red/pink hue to these areas, then the best thing to do is get down on your hands and knees and have a much closer look at the grass.

Close-up you can see the "red" strands of fungus infecting and binding the leaves together.

Dead leaves amongst healthy grass is also a sign of a laetisaria fuciformis infection.

Within the circles, if a red thread infection is present, then you will see very fine, needle-like, pink structures growing out of the dead grass leaves, sometimes binding the leaves together. If the infection is more developed, you may also see curious, small, furry, cotton-like structures at the ends of the red needles, which are very easy to spot.

The needles of the fungus are the Stromata part of the fungus, and the cotton-like structures are the Mycelium parts. Like most fungus, Red Thread spreads through the release of spores into the wind which carry it to the next lawn. It requires the grass to be constantly moist for it to take hold, which means that it is only seen during periods of wet, humid weather.

It used to be thought that Red Thread only attacked weak, poorly-maintained grass, but as long as the conditions are correct, it can attack the majority of turf grass species, no matter how well managed they are. Golf courses are particularly prone to Red Thread attacks and they are some of the most carefully managed turf in the country!

Red Thread will not kill the grass that it has attacked, as it only infects the leaves and does not damage the roots, meaning that, left alone, the grass will recover over time. However, it will be severely weakened, and, as the fungus will have released its spores, it will be more likely to be infected in subsequent years.

Some sources say that Red Thread can be controlled by the application of a high-nitrogen feed, such as urea, which strengthens the grass sufficiently to fight the infection itself. However, if trying to do this, great care must be taken to not over-feed, and "burn" the grass. Also, the feed must be taken in by the leaf to be effective, and as Red Thread is usually prevalent during damp periods, the rain will wash the feed down to the roots and through the soil, hence reducing its take-up by the grass plant.

A much more effective treatment is the Lawnscience fungicide treatment, which is a preventative and curative systemic fungicide, that is not available in garden centres to the domestic market, but is legal for domestic application by licensed technicians. It will protect your lawn from Red Thread attack for up to twelve weeks and is extremely effective. I am often surprised myself by how much discolouration to a lawn a fungal attack can cause, and the transformation in the colour of a lawn just a few weeks after the treatment can be stunning.

If you suspect you have a fungal infection in your lawn, or would like professional advice on the treatment of Red Thread, then please get in touch and I will be happy to advise.

Kris Lord

Lawnscience (South Manchester) Ltd

Rain, rain and more rain!

2012-04-29T10:41:00.002+01:00

Nearly three weeks of heavy April showers and lawns all over south Manchester are starting to look lush and green, if not a bit soggy!

If you are experiencing a lot of rain and your lawn is looking rather drowned at the moment the most important thing you can do is keep off it as much as possible and just leave it alone.

When soil is wet, any downward pressure from foot traffic or machinery squeezes the air pockets out of the soil much more easily, the soil packs together much more tightly, and then when it finally dries out you will have all sorts of compaction problems, your grass roots will struggle and your lawn will suffer as a result.

Do not mow your lawn in the rain. Not only is it hazardous from slipping and possible electrocution, but it will also damage your grass by not cutting it cleanly, inviting future fungal problems and disease.

My Lawnscience van in the rain

If you have any areas of your lawn where surface water gathers regularly, then it may benefit from an additional surface drainage treatments once it dries out. The usual process is to Hollow-tine the area concerned and then back-fill the tine-holes with a horticultural sharp-sand, to improve the soil structure by creating tiny air-pockets. Make sure you use a high-quality, lime-free, washed, sharp sand, as standard builders sand could do more harm than good.

If you have any questions about your lawn or about any treatments that can be done in wet weather, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Kris Lord
Lawnscience (South Manchester) Ltd

See also:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/basics/weather_flooding.shtml

Mini Lawn Project - April Update

2012-04-26T12:43:00.001+01:00

The mini-lawn has been growing very strongly during April, due the frequent and heavy showers we have been experiencing up here in the North West of England.

As you can see from the next sequence of photos, the growth has been reasonably even, and the grass is lush and green and will soon be ready for the first cut.

The Lawnscience Mini Lawn on 2nd April 2012

The Lawnscience Mini Lawn on 25th April 2012

If you look really closely there are one of two grass leaves that are yellowing slightly. This could be the start of a mild fungal infection exacerbated by the damp, cool weather we've had so I will keep an eye on it and treat it with a fungicide if necessary.

Lesser Celandine in lawns

2012-04-15T17:08:00.000+01:00

Lesser Celandine (Ranunculus ficaria) is an attractive lawn weed which is not very common, but which can establish itself quickly across a lawn where it does manage to take hold.

It has very distinct, heart-shaped leaves that are hairless and dark green in colour. They are sometimes variegated (lighter streaks through the leaf) and can be over 3cm long and 2cm wide.

Lesser Celandine in a lawn

Lesser Celandine leaf and flower

In Manchester, Lesser celandine produces flowers in March, April and May, and in some parts is often referred to as the "spring messenger". The flowers are similar in colour to a common buttercup (bright yellow), but are a little larger and the petals of the flower are thinner.

The Lesser Celandine Flower

It is a pretty little flower and has inspired many famous poets and writers over the years, including William Wordsworth and Edward Thomas, but the huge swathes of Celandine in woodlands that inspired these minds are much less common today.

Lesser Celandine is easily controlled in lawns, and a Lawnscience Standard Treatment will take care of any infestation in a lawn.

If you have a problem with Lesser Celandine in your lawn, then get in touch and I will be happy to advise.

Kris Lord
Lawnscience (South Manchester) Ltd

Mini Lawn Project - Week 2

2012-04-12T09:42:00.001+01:00

Just two weeks on, and my mini-lawn is coming along a treat. The grass has had some good rain on it and has even germination throughout, with the grass growing strongly.

The lawn on 27th March:

The Lawnscience mini-lawn grass, just two weeks after sowing!

The Lawnscience mini-lawn.

Field Woodrush in Lawns

2012-04-08T21:03:00.000+01:00

Field Woodrush (Luzula campestris) is very noticeable in a many lawns in at the moment. It can be easily seen as a patch of thicker-type grass, with hairy leaves that have tassel-like black and brown flowers protruding a couple of inches above the usual level of the lawn.

Field Woodrush in a lawn can go unnoticed most of the year!

Field Woodrush flowers in the spring and is easily spotted and is unsightly on your lawn.

It usually spreads in small patches, but can spread to a couple of metres across if left unchecked.

Field Woodrush is member of the rush (Juncaceae) family of plants. It is a perennial weed which, once it has made its way onto a lawn, spreads via slow creeping rhizomes or by seed if the flowers are not mowed off and are allowed to set.

Field Woodrush is most common in acidic lawns, and I've seen it most prevalent in Knutsford, Alderley Edge and Wilmslow, although it can be seen in lawns all over the South Manchester area. It is most happy where lawn thatch has built up, weakening the grass and lowering the pH.

Field Woodrush can be controlled through an application of a weed-control as part of a Lawnscience standard treatment package, and I also recommend reducing the acidity through a pH adjustment treatment in the autumn.

If you have a problem with Field Woodrush in your lawn, then get in touch and I will be happy to advise.

Kris

How NOT to scarify your lawn!

2012-04-06T17:53:00.003+01:00

One of my lawn care customers is the proud owner of a gorgeous garden, beds filled with exotic plants and a lovely lush, green, weed free lawn that sets it all off ...

... that was until her gardener scarified it for her a couple of weeks ago.

The results of the scarification on this lawn is absolutely shocking.

In trying to save a bit of money, this poor lady now has to put up with a terribly patchy lawn, which probably won't recover from the butchering inflicted on it for at least a year, and may even need to be done again properly in the autumn and re-seeded to bring it back to its best.

To say this was a rushed job is an understatement. There is obvious banding in two directions where strips have been missed, whole chunks of lawn have been untouched, while other sections have been completely destroyed. In many places, a thick layer of thatch still smothers the lawn meaning the bare areas won't recover at all.

Some parts ruined, whiles others are left untouched!

Even on the damaged parts, a thick thatch layer still remains which will hamper recovery.

I really take pride in the lawns that I care for and it breaks my heart to see a lawn that I have worked on completely ruined by "gardeners" who are in it for some easy money and who take no pride in their work at all.

So just a tip, leave scarifying of your lawn to your lawn care professional, as if you don't know what you're doing you can do real damage!

If you need any advice on how or when to scarify your lawn, and live in the South Manchester area, please get in touch and I will be happy to advise.

Kris Lord

Mini-lawn project ... the start

2012-04-02T19:24:00.000+01:00

Every year I like to grow a mini-lawn in a small trough, so that I can take it to shows and fairs as a mobile lawn exhibit. So this year I thought I would document its progress to show you how grass grows and develops during the year.

This year I am using a blend of red fescue, chewings fescue, stalked meadow grass and browntop bent grass varieties, which is an all-purpose shade tolerant mix, and should do well in the tough conditions in a pot that moves from sun to shade and is often in drought!

I filled the pot with a sandy-loam soil mixed with standard garden compost. It is about 30cm deep, which is plenty for the grass roots to fully develop.

I sowed the grass on Sunday 18th March 2012, and covered them with a fine layer of garden compost, and just one week later the grass had germinated and is well on it's way ...

The Lawnscience show lawn pot, one week after sowing.

The new grass germinating

The Mining Bee and your lawn

2012-03-29T21:02:00.003+01:00

I have been seeing a lot of mining bee nests recently (Andrena sp.). It seems the hot early spring weather has set them into a nest building frenzy! These beautiful little bees build themselves curious structures that look like miniature volcanoes. They are usually around 5cm high, made of bits of soil, usually with a hole around 4mm wide at the top.

A mining bee nest in a lawn in Knutsford

The little mound is the entrance to the nest, which is built by the female. It can go up to 60cm down, and contain many chambers for her eggs. Sometimes there may be several in the same patch of lawn, but they won't be connected and aren't part of a communal nest.

These solitary bees are valuable pollinators in the garden, are harmless and do not sting, so my best advice is to just let them go about their business. You can brush the mounds of earth away, but they will probably just return the next day!

For more info and pics on mining bees check out:

buglife.org

The Garden safari

What can I do about the worm casts on my lawn?

2012-03-04T18:43:00.001Z

Worm activity in the winter can be a problem for many types of lawns. If you are the proud owner of a fine, ornamental lawn, worm casts will spoil the look and cause it to become lumpy and uneven. If you use your lawn as an additional room of the house, used by the kids and generally enjoying the outdoors, then worm casts at this time of year can also be a problem. They are stepped in, causing a muddy patch, and the mud can be trampled into the house or spoil your new shoes, additionally these patties of soil are a fantastic seed bed for weeds, moss and all the other nasties that you have been spending all the previous year trying to eliminate!

A worm cast in a lawn in Hale Barns, Cheshire.

The problem is that worms are great for your soil. They make their way through the soil, digesting the goodness and breaking down organic matter. They also create channels in the soil which helps to aerate the soil, keeping it healthy, so we really don't want to kill the worms, or stop them from performing their valuable service on your soil.

So, there are two ways you can deal with the problem of worms in your lawn and, as usual with most lawn care tasks, there is an easy way, and a hard way!

Removing worm casts the hard way.

By regularly inspecting your lawn and just sweeping away worm casts as you find them will tackle the problem. Every day or so, walk your lawn and, using a stiff household broom or a long flexible cane, simply brush the casts aside, spreading out the topsoil that has been pushed to the surface and allowing the grass beneath to poke through and see the sun. Done regularly, this will help keep your lawn looking smooth throughout the winter months.

Removing worm casts the easy way.

Lawnscience offers a worm treatment service, which, when applied, is a bitter-tasting chemical that the worms don't like. They are not harmed and are simply encouraged to go deeper down into the soil, discouraging them from coming to the surface and making their miniature mountains of soil. This treatment is best applied when the worms are active and can even be applied in damp weather (as this helps the chemical penetrate deeper).

If you are in my area in the North West of England, and are interested in a Lawnscience worm treatment for your lawn, get in touch and book your free, no obligation lawn survey and quotation.

Kris Lord

Has moss taken over your lawn?

2012-02-27T20:23:00.002Z

Here in the North West of England, the winter of 2011 / 2012 has been warm and damp for nearly six months, which has been great for autumn-seeded grass, but also ideal conditions for moss. If your lawn has an area of shade, is overly compacted, suffers with poor drainage or is in an acidic soil area, then moss will most likely have become an issue.

In the UK there are hundreds of species of moss, but only around 30 of those are found in lawns and nearly all of those are treated in the same way. The only type which I treat a little differently is the Polytrichum species, which is a little more difficult to remove, but thankfully not very common.

Polytrichum moss in a lawn

Curing a moss problem in a lawn is never an easy task, nor is there a quick fix. Moss has to be literally bullied out of the way over at least several seasons, and if there has been a moss problem for a long time, annual control and regular hard work, maybe the only choice.

Lawnscience can provide a comprehensive lawn care program to remove the moss from your lawn. Moss can be just controlled and removed, however the best practice is to identify the causes as to why the grass has thinned which allowed the moss to move in the first place, and to remedy that problem, so that in future years the grass can become strong enough to not allow the moss in in the first place. As your local lawn care expert, I can help you to identify the causes of moss, and advise on a course of action to help.

Depending on when you start your moss removal program will depend on the timing of the schedule, but starting now (late February / early March) you should put a moss control treatment down as soon as possible, as waiting until spring will allow the moss to release it's spores and die naturally, continuing it's life cycle and infesting the soil, being ready to come back with a vengeance the following Autumn!

Two or three weeks after a moss control treatment the moss can then either be raked out or in more severe cases the lawn may need to be scarified. This is an aggressive process in which a machine is used to physically pull the thatch and moss out of the lawn for easy removal. The lawn can then be aerated if required, fertilised and, if necessary, it can also be re-seeded with new grass seed. A top dressing can also be applied over the top of the seed to improve the soil structure, plant the seed, and help to level the lawn.

A neglected lawn that has become a moss-carpet!

If moss has been a problem for many years, this will not be the end of the story. Many millions of moss spores will most probably still be in your lawn and, given the chance, will come back in the autumn. To prevent this re-infestation, keep the lawn healthy and thick by feeding regularly with the Lawnscience fertilisation program, and address any other issues which may be contributing to the problem, such as cutting back overhanging trees to reduce the shade, or applying lime in the Autumn to reduce the acidity.

If you are live within my area in the North West of England, and you have a moss issue on your lawn, get in touch and book your free, no obligation lawn survey and quotation, and get on the road to a moss free lawn!

Kris Lord

The moss on this lawn was terrible, with hardly any grass present.

After a moss control, scarification, aeration, and a re-seed, a few weeks later the lawn is well on it's way to recovery!

Why do I have mushrooms growing on my lawn?

2012-02-13T10:35:00.000Z

I am often asked about mushrooms growing on lawns, and if the lawn owners should be worried. So in this post I'll try to explain a little about these mysterious organisms, why they seem to appear out of nowhere and why they are often just a natural part of the health of your lawn.

Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of fungus that live on and in the soil. Toadstool is the old common name for poisonous mushrooms, but are still essentially mushrooms. These mysterious organisms play an essential role in the decomposition and recycling of organic matter into nutrients usable by plants.

Fungus are classified as neither plant nor animal, They have their own separate classification called the eukaryotes, which also include yeasts and moulds.

For the majority of their lives, most fungus go about their business slowly decomposing all of the dead and rotting organic matter that falls within their reach. Largely unnoticed, they slowly grow filament-like structures that are similar to roots, called Hyphae. Collectively, these Hyphae are called Mycelium and on some types of fungi these can be seen as curious white strands in the soil and on dead wood. This is how the fungus grows and searches out nutrients.

Fungal Mycelium in the soil

Many species of fungi live in symbiosis with a host plant, with each one mutually benefiting from the other. Identifying the plant on which a fungus is growing is one of the many methods that is used to correctly identify them, as many only exist alongside their host plants.

A mushroom is the fruiting body of a fungus. These structures hold millions of fungal spores which are released and carried by the wind to new locations in a similar fashion to how plants spread their seed. They come in a fantastic array of shapes, colours and sizes. For a gallery of mushrooms that I have found on lawns in my area, check out my fantastic fungus gallery on facebook, where I post pictures of the most interesting ones I find.

A fungus will only produce a mushroom when the environmental conditions are ideal, and sometimes it can be many years between fruiting. I remember in the autumn of 2010, conditions were ideal for the large Bolete species of mushrooms and there was an invasion of a great many of these distinctive, large mushrooms on lawns all over the North West. This is why you may not see mushrooms on your lawn for many years, and then all of a sudden, they're everywhere!

Do Mushrooms indicate a problem with my lawn?

The vast majority of mushrooms on a lawn do not indicate a problem, and are actually beneficial. They are just part of the natural ecology of the lawn.

However, if the mushrooms that emerge are arranged in a distinct circle or arc then this is a rare situation when the presence of a particular fungus will adversely affect the lawn and will need treatment. This will indicate the presence of a fairy ring, caused by the Mycelium fungus in the soil. These can be fascinating to look at, but can be devastating to the look of the lawn. I will try to cover fairy rings in more detail in a later blog post.

Mushrooms on a buried tree stump.

Many other fungus in lawns enjoy damp, carbon-rich soil and therefore are only an indication of a problem with the lawn, such as a low pH, poor drainage or an excess of organic matter such as leaves or wood chip on the lawn. I can test your pH levels and advise if treatment is necessary.

Of these common species found on British lawns, very few are poisonous, and even fewer are toxic enough to cause death. Even so, if you are considering handling or eating any mushrooms that you find growing on your lawn, then be sure to verify that it is an edible species from at least two reliable field guides or from someone who is an expert in the subject. If you are at all unsure of what you have found, then just leave it alone and it will disappear in time.

Mushrooms on your lawn can appear overnight and will usually only last a few days, so the majority can be left alone without harming the lawn. However, some of the larger species can be very unsightly and leave a mess after they have finished spreading their spores, so if you wish to remove them, just picking them and putting them on the compost heap will suffice (be sure to wear gloves or wash your hands after handling). Also, some folk say picking them when you see them will help to reduce the number of mushrooms appearing on your lawn, but there are so many mushroom spores that it is probably inevitable that some will land on your lawn from another unpicked mushroom nearby!

The only way to be sure of removing mushrooms from your lawn is to replace the soil every year, which, of course, is ridiculous.

Finally, have a look at my facebook mushroom gallery where I will be putting my photos of interesting mushrooms I have found on lawns in my area. If you have any questions or are concerned about unusual fungus your lawn, or any other lawn issues, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Until next time, enjoy your lawns!

Kris Lord

Lawnscience (South Manchester) Ltd

New Lawn Care Blog for the North West of England.

2012-01-30T11:47:00.000Z

Welcome to my blog. My name is Kris Lord and I run the South Manchester branch of Lawnscience.

Firstly, I'd just like to clarify that I am from Manchester in the North West of England, not any of the 'Manchesters' across the pond in the USA! That is important as a great many of the issues that I will address will only really be relevant to British lawns with cool season grasses. So if you see any other lawn care blogs on the web that mention grasses called, Zoysia, Bermuda, Bluegrass or Buffalo then chances are they're not based in the UK so may (or may not) be what you're looking for.

Lawnscience is a lawn care service which specialises in the maintenance and regeneration of lawns all over the UK, and my branch in the North West services an area about 10 miles around Manchester airport. So, although this is blog is aimed specifically at gardeners in this area, it will still be very relevant to folks in the North West and hopefully of interest to many others across the UK.

Over the coming year I hope to use these pages to highlight some of the issues that I encounter on lawns and to offer solutions and advice to the most common and not so common lawn problems that I find. If you have any questions about your lawn, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Last year (2011) was a very challenging year for lawns in the North West, mainly due to the very strange weather we had earlier in the year. In total, we had around 6 weeks of snow on the ground last winter and then barely a drop of rain for nearly three months during the spring! This played havoc with spring lawn re-seeding. Seed germination rates were right down due to the heat and a few lawns in my area that could not be watered, needed to be re-treated and re-seeded in the autumn. Thankfully the latter half of 2011 was a much better period for grass, with lovely damp weather for the majority of the Autumn which continued right through November, December and January!

I have recently been having a look at the lawns I re-seeded in the autumn of 2011 and they are coming on a treat. Lots of germination and strong, even growth means that the new grass plants have established brilliantly and are well on their way to looking beautiful this year.
Now it seems that a cold spell will be upon us for a couple of weeks, so stay off your lawn if it has a frost on it, keep any debris such as sticks or leaves off it and keep it long to help it to make the most of the short days and low-light levels.

If you feel moss maybe making it's way in and, due to the prolonged damp weather, it probably will be, then get in touch and schedule a Lawnscience Winter Lawn Treatment to control it. A couple of weeks later it can then be raked out and your lawn will be ready for spring ... which hopefully won't be too long in coming!

That's all for now, enjoy your gardens!

Kris Lord