Seeing red grass on your lawn can be pretty alarming, especially if you’ve never seen it before. So you may be wondering what exactly is the red grass that you’re seeing on your lawn.
Usually, the red grass on your lawn can be attributed to something called red thread. It’s essentially a kind of dead grass that will grow on your lawn when it’s really wet outside during the summer time and in the Fall months.
It’s a little problematic in terms of aesthetics for your garden, but it doesn’t tend to completely kill off the grass on your lawn. It may cause some damage to your garden, however.
Red thread is a type of lawn disease, and it’s usually caused by soil that has lower levels of nitrogen. There are a few different kinds of red thread grasses, including red fescue, ryegrass, kentucky bluegrass and bentgrass.
It’s a very common kind of lawn disease, especially in the UK. It’s a bit of a pain to deal with, but it can be managed fairly easily with the right techniques.
What does red thread lawn disease look like?
It’s usually pretty simple to identify red thread lawn disease. First of all, take a look at your lawn. You may begin to notice some patches in your lawn that look a little like straw in terms of color.
The shape is also rather strange. They get their name from the fact that the strands look a little bit red or pink in terms of color. These strands will usually attach onto the blades of grass, which is usually a big problem for the grass surrounding it.
You may see a structure that looks a little bit like a spider’s web around the roots of the plant. These are the general characteristics of red thread lawn disease to look out for.
Now, there are also some other diseases that can be mistaken for red thread lawn disease, so it’s important to notice that. It is sometimes misidentified for another lawn disease that’s known as pink patch.
This lawn disease can look a little bit like things such as dollar spot and pink snow mold. Unfortunately, these diseases all appear at around the same points in the year which can mean that it is difficult to positively identify one of them in particular.
Red thread lawn disease will often come up as mycelium clusters though, so this is a key characteristic to note when trying to identify it.
If you are trying to identify red thread lawn disease, it may also be helpful to know the kinds of conditions that it thrives in. Of course, the disease can occur in pretty much any sort of climate or condition, but there are some risk factors.
For instance, if you live in an area with high amounts of rainfall or if humidity is quite common during the spring or summer months.
It can also be more likely to show up when there are low levels of nitrogen, when the temperature is between 68 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit, and of course when the humidity is high. As such, some lawns may be more likely to experience these issues than others.
Will red thread go away?
Unfortunately, the pathogens that cause red thread lawn disease often don’t go away. Likewise, it’s not possible to take control over the weather either.
With that being said, there are ways that you can minimie the chances of red thread lawn disease appearing, and you can also get rid of it once it’s there.
One of the best things that you can do when you are at risk of getting red thread on your lawn is to fertilize it. Make sure that you include a decent amount of nitrogen as per the lawn’s needs, and maintain this feeding program on a regular basis.
You will need to do this regularly though, since it can take even as long as two years to stop the red thread from coming back during the spring months.
In addition to this, you can also do other things like making sure that your grass drains well when it’s wet. Make sure that the lawn is well ventilated by trimming down the bushes and the trees, and aerate your lawn regularly to make the drainage better.
You can use chemicals to treat red thread lawn disease, but this often isn’t entirely necessary if you’ve been taking the other steps that we mentioned above.
Fungicides can also cost quite a lot of money, so it’s often best to try natural methods first. If that doesn’t work, you may then wish to think about investing in a costly fungicide. Simply give it a little time – your lawn will be free of this disease in no time in many instances.