If you’re like a lot of homeowners, you might be feeling frustrated about everything involved in maintaining a healthy lawn. Of course, when you see evidence of potential disease, it can be even more stressful. You might be wondering what to do.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of lawn diseases that thrive in our region. But it’s not something that we want you to worry about.
First of all, lawn diseases often do clear up on their own. But we also don’t want you to feel as though you have to understand everything that is going on with your lawn. That’s exactly why we’re here to be lawn experts for you.
In this article, we will specifically dive into fairy ring lawn disease. While this disease is not as common as some of the others we’ve discussed (like brown patch disease, red thread disease, or dollar spot), it is something that pops up in the lawn.
We will cover:
What are fairy rings in grass?
What causes fairy rings in grass?
How to prevent fairy ring lawn disease?
How to get rid of fairy rings in grass?
Choosing the best lawn care services in your area
This information about fairy ring lawn disease should help you make the best decisions for your lawn.
What are fairy rings in grass?
Fairy Ring is a disease that can cause dark green or sometimes brown circles. These rings might be accompanied by the growth of mushrooms, also growing in a circular shape. This disease is favored by moist soils and can occur in all turf types.
In European folklore, it’s believed that finding circular rings on the lawn was a sign that fairies danced there…hence where the name comes from. While this sounds magical, we understand that homeowners are rarely amused to find these rings in their lawn.
What causes fairy rings in grass?
Fairy ring is caused by decaying organic matter that is growing beneath the surface of your turf. As mentioned above, it is favored by moist soils where this organic matter is more likely to grow and decay. However, they can appear in any soil type.
Though it prefers moisture, fairy ring disease tends to do more damage in soil that is inadequately watered or improperly fertilized. In fact, like many lawn diseases, proper fertilization plays a huge role in the potential growth and spread of the disease.
How to prevent fairy ring lawn disease?
Like other lawn diseases, fairy rings are much less likely to appear in well-maintained grass. It’s more challenging for lawn fungus to grow and spread in thick and healthy grass than it is in a lawn that is thin and struggling.
Strong lawn care habits like proper watering and fertilization also play a key role in the growth and spread of lawn fungus.
Proper watering is essential as you want to avoid long periods of wetness. Morning is by far the best time to water your lawn because it gives your grass plenty of time to dry before nightfall and to absorb as much water as possible before it evaporates.
Lawn aeration can also play a vital role as it will help prevent soil compaction. When soil is compacted, it can leave the lawn water-logged. However, aeration helps loosen the soil and allows more oxygen, water, and nutrients to reach the grassroots.
With lawn aeration, we are also seeding and introducing new and improved grass species into your lawn to grow a turf that is naturally more resistant to disease. This also helps play an important role in preventing problems with fungus.
How to get rid of fairy rings in grass?
If you have an existing case of fairy ring, then you might be wondering about treating fairy ring lawn disease.
The good news is that a case of fairy ring usually starts to go away as the conditions improve. Lawn aeration, as we mentioned above, plays a critical role in improving the lawn’s conditions.
If you have mushrooms growing in your fairy ring, you can make an effort to rake and clean those up. Ideally, you want to do this before the mushroom caps open as this is how spores spread and new mushrooms start to grow.
When homeowners inquire about how to treat fairy rings in grass, they typically expect us to recommend fungicides. But Oasis Turf & Tree takes a very specific stance on using fungicides.
We feel that chemicals are often not necessary to deal with lawn diseases as they’re incredibly expensive and may not be the best use of your money.
In fact, a single fungicide treatment can cost as much as two to three times more than other lawn care applications. And, fungicides don’t cure the disease, they just suppress it.
You’ll also need repeated applications to get effective coverage. You could easily end up spending the amount you’d spend on a total lawn care program just for fungicide applications.
Instead, when homeowners invest in high-quality lawn care and start to grow a healthier lawn, they’ll be able to resist many diseases in the first place. Your money is better spent on a service like lawn aeration that will improve the overall structure and health of your entire lawn.
Choosing lawn care services in Cincinnati, Dayton, OH and Northern Kentucky
At the end of the day, your best defense against lawn diseases like fairy ring is a healthy and thriving lawn. The best way to achieve this is with a reputable lawn care service with a proven track record.
You also want to make sure that you choose a lawn care company that has your best interest at heart. That means a company that will adapt their services to the existing conditions. It also means a company that isn’t out to have you spend an arm and a leg on fungicides when there are better ways to fight lawn disease.
At Oasis Turf & Tree, we’re taking steps to mitigate lawn care problems by tailoring our program to the current conditions. Different turf diseases thrive in different conditions. Our lawn care technicians will make a turf disease identification and then make recommendations based on what you’re dealing with.
We are also always proactively educating homeowners. We encourage them to take photos of anything that they see on their lawn in between our visits. If you have fairy rings showing up on your lawn, please feel free to reach out to us.
We are also constantly sharing helpful tips on the proper cultural practices including proper watering and fertilization.
By working together, we can help you achieve a thick and healthy turf that is not only going to look great but is going to have a much better chance of fighting back against invasive lawn diseases like fairy ring. We’re always here to answer your questions so that you’re never left to figure any of this out for yourself.
Want to learn more about professional lawn care services for your Cincinnati, Dayton, Ohio, or Northern Kentucky home? Request your quote, choose the lawn care program that’s right for you, and then sit back and relax as the pros help you get the lawn of your dreams without the worries.
Image Source: fairy ring