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We are more used to seeing rust on our first car than our lawn! Infected turf appears generally yellow/orange. Close examination reveals the leaves with orange fungal pustules which, when touched, disperse large numbers of uredospores. These are very similar in appearance to the rust dust, which can be wiped from rusty metal, hence the name.
A devastating disease of lawns in the autumn and winter months, especially newly turved or seeded lawns
A disease of lawns in the late summer and autumn months, especially in lawns of low fertility, especially Nitrogen
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Aeration aids root development, air percolation, root pruning and drainage. Aeration is the process of making holes in the lawns surface. The action of aerating will let the stale Carbon Dioxide air out of the soil and the fresh Oxygen rich air into the soil. The action of aerating will also stimulate and encourage root growth. There are many different types of aerator tines yet the majority of lawn treatment and care companies always use a hollow core tine, thus removing a core from the surface of the lawn. They tend to leave the cores on the lawn’s surface too, making it bumpy. They should be cleared away to a compost facility. What the majority of UK lawns require is deep solid tine aeration, like down to 125mm to break up aged compaction and this alone will help break down a thatch layer. A lawn should be solid tined twice a year and hollow tines every two to three years through fear of upsetting the lawn levels.
Read moreYou can Download and Print a PDF copy of our Calendar of Lawn Care Calendar and pop it in your garden shed for future reference.
One of the biggest questions we get asked is to do with the timings of treatments and mechnical tasks. The science and practice of turf care is a bit of a science that the weather always appears to mess up for you. In the spring time, you are trying to get your lawn out of the winter doldrums. In the early summer make it look fabulous for entertaining in the garden and in the winter you will be doing everything you are able to ensure lawn turf grass density when it is cold and horrible outside. The Calendar of Lawn Care will break down some of the myths of what to do when and if you do not manage to complete task like aeration in February, do it in March but make sure that you do it. Thge when is mostly down to the weather and ground and growing conditions which of change throughout the seasons.
You will never forget the drought of last year. The natural evaporation rate per hour on a warm day would be 7mm so trying to water a lawn, to get some vital green colour back is a bit of a losing battle as you would need to apply 7mm of water each daylight hour to keep abreast of the natural water loss from the lawns surface and turf grass plants. It is easy to see that you will be in a water deficit in no time!
There is lots you can do to prepare your lawn for drought. Simple tasks such as get rids of your weeds and moss as they take up lots of available water that could be used for your turf grasses instead. Fertilise your lawn at regular intervals like every three months – keep it healthy and it will cope with whatever weather is thrown at it. Raise your height of cut to at least setting three or four on a Hayter, so around 4 cm and make sure the mower blade is sharp so as not to stress the turf grasses further.
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