Lawn Turf Diseases

Lawn turf, like all living things can suffer from disease. Most of these diseases are caused by an imbalance or reaction in the fungi population normally found in lawn turf.

Each lawn turf disease, and there are many, develops under different conditions. Some diseases develop in the spring, some in the summer, and others in the winter months.

Fortunately, diseases that can kill your lawn turf are fairly rare, and those that are more common are not very damaging.

The best defense against disease development is to select those grass varieties with the greatest disease resistance.

Taking good care of your lawn turf will also minimise the chances of disease. Well managed lawn turf will not only develop less disease, but it can recover from disease faster.

While diseases in lawn turf are not common, they are natural and will occasionally develop. The first and most important step to take is to identify which disease is attacking your lawn turf.

Fine-leaved grasses can be prone to a few common diseases if they are not growing strongly ­ but early treatment can prevent long-term damage. Other lawn turf problems may be caused by the nature of the site or by algae, moss or lichen.

Always consider treating the cause of such problems, such as drainage, removing fallen leaves, fertilising correctly before using chemicals.

Although lawn pests are not easy to control with chemicals, there are useful sprays that can be used against the most common lawn diseases. Unless the problem has been experienced in previous years it should not be necessary to apply preventative sprays.

Remember not to mow immediately before or after spraying chemicals on to the lawn, and heed manufacturers' instructions about restricting pet's access after spraying.