Lawn diseases can make a lawn look ugly and unsightly for years, or they can slowly eat away at a lawn until it is devastated with bare patches, or perhaps the entire lawn is discoloured or looking as though it is rotten. There is rarely a quick fix to lawn diseases, but a repair may require that we approach these lawn problems on a number of different fronts at once, hitting the lawn disease in as many ways as possible in order to achieve the results we want.
While sometimes we can get lucky and have our lawns quickly and even instantly repaired with a single treatment and nothing else, we can often find that this may be a temporary solution only, and that the problem may return again, and continuously, unless we address the underlying root causes.
Bringing The Lawn To Better Health
Let’s not approach curing lawn disease as a simple question of what product do I buy to fix this particular problem, instead let’s approach curing all lawn diseases and other lawn problems with an overall treatment plan not just for a quick fix, but for something ongoing, and which will increase our chances of an overall recovery with the present infection we are now dealing with.
So first we want to look at finding and solving any other issues which may be affecting our overall lawn health, because we want to bring our lawn to its best health possible, so that it can fight off this present fungal infection, as well as maintaining better overall health and vigour at all times.
Removing Shade
A lawn which is subject to excessively shady conditions will often have many different types of problems, and will never be at full health. This lacklustre health will further ensure that the lawn is never strong enough to help fight off any lawn problems, diseases included, on its own or with the help of other remedies which we may apply.
So if at all possible, remove anything which may be causing excessive shade on the lawn, which may usually mean trimming and pruning back trees and bushes in order to get a lot more direct natural sunlight onto our lawns.
Let the sun shine in !!
Lawn Fertiliser
We all should have a regular and ongoing fertilising program for our lawns, it’s not difficult and really not all that expensive either. Beginning at the start of one month before Winter arrives, we apply a quality slow release lawn fertiliser, for most of us this might mean we fertiliser at the beginning of May. Then every three months thereafter we apply another treatment of quality lawn fertiliser to our lawns. That’s it, and it’s not difficult at all.
Always be sure to water the fertiliser into the lawn after application, and it would be a very good idea to mulch mow the lawn at the first cut after applying fertiliser, this will ensure that our lawn mower doesn’t suck up the fertiliser into the lawn mower catcher, and that it then goes into the bin instead of staying on our lawns.
Begin treating lawn diseases first with an application of high quality fertiliser, regardless of what time of the year it is, if we’re treating lawn problems then other things get adjusted around that treatment plan.
Wait at least a week after applying the lawn fertiliser, or even two weeks after.
Then we want to hit the lawn with a fungicide.
Applying A Fungicide To Treat Lawn Disease
I often use Mancozeb to treat lawn disease, though its results can vary and may need to be used more than once. It will always work best when combined with a lawn fertiliser treatment at about the same time.
Be sure to follow manufacturers recommendations on how to mix and apply Mancozeb to treat lawn disease. Temperatures should be cool, below 27 degrees celsius when applying. Do not apply this treatment in hot weather.
Yates produces Mancozeb and other fungicides suitable for treating lawn diseases.
There are other fungicides available, and it may be worthwhile seeking advice from a manufacturer as to their best recommendations when treating lawn diseases.
Stopping Lawn Mowing During Treatment
It may also be a good idea when we’re treating lawn disease as a whole health exercise for the lawn, that we take a break from mowing our lawns for a little while as well. Perhaps only for a few weeks or a month, or a little longer maybe.
We do this so as to lower all stress possible on the lawn while treatment is ongoing.
Lawn mowing is causing a lot of damage to the leaf material and sometimes the thatch of the lawn when we cut, that damage requires the lawn to use its available energy to repair itself. So with this in mind, perhaps we don’t want the lawn to use that energy on repairing itself from lawn mowing, but rather that it use its energy to repair itself from lawn disease instead.
So let’s take a break from lawn mowing from before we first put down the lawn fertiliser, then while waiting to apply the fungicide treatment, as well as while we’re waiting for the fungicide to take effect to help cure our lawn disease.
Cleaning and Treating The Lawn Mower
While our lawn mower is taking a bit of a break, let’s take care of that too.
It may or may not be time for a service, although that’s not what we’re really aiming for here.
Instead we want to give our lawn mower a good wash down with soapy water and a brush, removing any gunk anywhere found on the mower, and giving it a good overall clean.
Once the mower is clean we can take our fungicide and mix it according to manufacturers specifications, and then either spray or brush the fungicide over the lower parts of the lawn mower, including blades, underside of the mower base, and wheels, and the outer lower edges of the mower as well.
We do this to try to remove any trace of lawn disease off the lawn mower as well, and then we can let the lawn mower rest for a while, clean and treated, while the lawn repairs.
If we use other outdoor power equipment on our lawns then we should likewise treat those in the same way also. Machines such as lawn edgers or line trimmers should also be washed and any parts which come into contact with the lawn also treated with a fungicide.
Summary
The only way we can end this article is exactly how it began.
And that is with knowing that there usually is no instant fix or product to buy which can instantly cure lawns of disease, though sometimes we may just get lucky in this regard anyway.
Instead we want to take an entire approach to addressing every factor which could be helping the lawn disease to first become established, and then an entire approach to our complete treatment of the lawn disease and ensuring our lawn is in the best health possible so that it can survive and fight off lawn disease infections.
None of this is difficult, and all of it is just very much common sense.
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