4 and a Half Lawn Pests and Diseases to look out for this Autumn
As a lawn care service we've seen enough autumn seasons to know what we are likely to encounter this coming autumn. Much of it is fantastic for your lawn with warm and wet days, but with that can bring unwanted pests and disease.
Here is what you should be looking out for in the coming weeks and months and how much of a concern they may be for our lawns.
1. Cranefly - Leatherjackets
This sits top of the list for good reason.
A leather jacket infestation can be devastating for your lawn. The problem being if you don't consider that you may have a problem now, come the winter / spring period it could be too late.
It is common to see cranefly (daddy-long-legs) across September and October in the UK. They are currently searching for warm and damp soils to lay eggs. When hatched, leather jackets:
A) Feed off the roots of turf, weakening lawns and causing dieback unless everything else is in it's favour
B) Attract predators including crows and badgers who have the ability to cause far more damage than the grubs themselves
Leatherjackets - Solution
See this article that I put together last year on the control of leatherjackets in lawns.
Good lawn care practices in the form of regular treatments and aeration will keep roots strong. A chemical for professional use only and a biological control is available with the ideal timing for application upcoming. Get to it!
2. Red Thread
In at number 2 is red thread! This is up here due to how common red thread is within UK lawns The good news is that it is not something that we need to be overly concerned by. With the right care and weather conditions we can overcome this common lawn disease fairly quickly.
Red thread needs very wet and also mild conditions to thrive in lawns. This means, that it can flare up in todays' climate all year around, but is commonly seen in a wet summer month, or a mild and wet autumn spell.
This disease doesn't impact the roots of the grass, only the leaves which is why our concern is much lower than leatherjacket damage for example. In a healthy lawn where the correct seasonal treatments are being applied, the effected leaves will simply grow out in a couple of cuts time.
Red Thread - Solution
With how common red thread is we've already a number of resources on it's best methods of prevention and cure. Red thread has a dedicated page within our 'Lawn Treatments Library on the main site. When working with a lawn care service, any attacks will be short lived, with the grass having everything it needs to recover quickly. Our Stress Buster applications were designed partly with red thread in mind. .
3. Chafer Grubs
Fortunately, we don't come across the same level of chafer grub activity as we do leatherjackets - otherwise this one be an instantly to the top of the list!
Chafer grubs in our experience can be more damaging, and far more difficult to control. 'Eradication' isn't a word that can be used with any pest or disease management as we cannot control weather conditions, nor can we control where a pest chooses to lay eggs in a following season.
These critters are the offspring of the chafer beetle and they make for an even juicier meal for predators. Both the primary damage to the grass and the secondary damage can be more severe.
Chafer Grubs - Solution
Unfortunately, it's highly likely that if this is coming as news to you now then effective control this year is too late. Autumn is too late in the season for the chemical licenced for professional use, and the biological control (nematodes) is also on the late side unless you were already on the case.
The chafer beetle likes to lay eggs in lawns where there is a lot of thatch in the hope this will provide protection for their young. What can be done through the autumn is the reduction of this thatch through scarification and a likely lawn renovation.
Products to control chafer grubs will not be able to reach them if there is a thick thatch layer. This needs to be dealt with first.
Note: Please don't be tempted to re-turf your lawn without dealing with the problem to avoid your investment being eaten again!
4. Fusarium
Fusarium is a lawn disease that until recent years we only found would impact fine turf surfaces. It is far more common on golf and bowling greens throughout autumn and winter than it is on lawns. This is fortunate for us lawnies as fusarium (also known as fusarium patch, 'Fuzz' and snow mould) has the potential to kill the effected areas of grass.
We have found that impacted lawns are typically made up of finer grasses (fescue and bent grasses), and the disease needs exceptionally mild November conditions on lawns where both day and night temperatures are above average, and there has been no frosts to kill off disease pathogens.
Fusarium - Solution
Unfortunately, solutions here are limited. There are minimal contact fungicides available for use even as a lawn care service. Those that are are very expensive and cannot gain the results and assurances that we would want to be giving to our customers for the price tag.
This disease can transfer from lawn to lawn. To minimise it's impact it is important to wash footwear when working on an effected lawn and any equipment that may have been used.
Good November lawn care practices can reduce the impact of the disease to give the lawn it's best chance of a full recovery. This includes regular autumn / winter lawn treatments and an autumn aeration to keep surface moisture to a minimum. Along with that, hold out for the weather to change!
4.5 - Leaves!
So leaves are neither a pest (not strictly!) nor are they a disease. However, in our experience they remain the most damaging thing to a lawn across the autumn months when not cleared frequently enough from a lawn.
During the autumn months, grass growth starts to slow and daylength becomes shorter. As conditions start to become more challenging for your lawn (with disease not far away as discussed) is it vital that your own lawn care efforts do not reduce just because the temperature is on it's way down!
When a lawn is covered in leaves it gains even less light for days, sometimes weeks at a time. The grass will firstly start to thin in this dark environment and will later die. This is no way to look after your lawn!
Along with this, lawn treatments are more effective when applied to a lawn with minimum leaf coverage. Liquid products rather than reaching the grass are going to be hitting leaf cover, reducing the effectiveness of applications.
Above: Two examples of the damage that leaves will cause to your lawn this autumn if not managed correctly. We had to recommend additional reseeding work for these lawns last year at a cost which could have been avoided. We are doing our best to save you lawn pain and money!
Leaves - Solution
No lawn is going to be leaf-free at all times, however regular clearance of leaves 1-3 times per week during the autumn months is vital for your lawn. This can be done via rake, blower or mower. Good mowers will hoover up leaves and stripe the lawn at the same time!
You may wish to reduce the tree cover now, before leaves start to fall. Whereas we're not in favour of cutting down our trees, trimming overhanging shrubs and bushes from lawns now will increase the light that your lawn can benefit from and might help to lessen your leaf clearance further into the autumn.
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