If you're proud of your lawn and keen to keep it looking its best, you should take steps to prevent lawn fungus. While it's true that the occasional toadstool can indicate healthy soil that's rich with cultures, a widespread lawn fungus problem can be damaging and unsightly. Today we're going to show you a few things you can do to prevent lawn fungus in your garden.
How to Prevent Fungus in Grass
Mow regularly but carefully
During the spring and summer months, you'll need to mow your lawn once or twice a month. Be aware that cutting the lawn too short can make it more susceptible to fungus and diseases. If you want to give your lawn the best chance of fighting off fungus during the autumn-winter months, we'd recommend cutting it regularly through spring/summer, but keeping the grass long enough that it has strength and resilience.
Read More: Can I Mow the Lawn in Winter?
Regularly sweep up leaves and debris
Lawn fungus thrives in warm, dark, damp environments, so leaving huge piles of autumn leaves or other debris on your lawn will encourage the growth of lawn funguses. Build up of thatch can also encourage various lawn fungi and diseases. It's important you give your lawn plenty of sunlight and expose it to the fresh air as much as possible, this will help excess surface moisture evaporate and will make conditions less favourable for all species of lawn fungus.
Of course, if you like to use fallen leaves to mulch your lawn and add nutrients back into the soil, then you'll need lawn fungus to break the leaves down. So, this really is a question of preference. If you want to avoid lawn fungus altogether, we wouldn't recommend mulching your lawn. However, if you're willing to use lawn fungus to your advantage then you can allow fallen leaves to decompose and give their nutrients back to the soil.
Read More: How to Deal with Fallen Leaves on Your Lawn
Check and change your soil
The conditions and pH of your soil can have a huge impact on the quantity and types of fungus in your lawn. Fungus thrives in soil that's slightly acidic (eg. soil with a pH of less than 7). One way to change the pH of your soil and prevent the growth of fungus is to add lime. No, we're not talking about the green citrus fruit that tastes great in mojitos, we're talking about agricultural limestone! Adding finely ground limestone to your soil will make it more alkaline and will stop lawn fungus in its tracks.
Treating established lawn fungus
If you've noticed that there's already lawn fungus growing in your lawn, don't worry, there are things you can do to get rid of it! Here are some of the common types of lawn fungus you might find in your UK garden:
- Lawn Rust
- Red Thread
- Snow Mould
- Slime Mould
- Fairy Rings
Here at Lawn and Weed Expert, we can tackle a huge range of lawn fungus species and help bring your lawn back to life. Find out more about our lawn fungus treatments by clicking the button below, or get in touch to arrange your FREE garden survey.
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