Walked across a lawn this morning. My shoes come out looking rather "rusty."
Reason: This lawn had a good crop of Rust Disease. Rusts are prevalent on lawns this time of year. Good thing my shoes were dark brown and not white. If they had been white running shoes they would have been really orange in colour. The disease is not sporulating. The grass blades are covered with the spores of the rust. They are getting ready to be blown away to land on some other lawn down stream.
Rust disease is not usually a fatal problem. Often it is due to the weather and other factors. Right now, I would say the dry weather we have been having has caused some stress to grasses. Their growth has slowed down and the Rust has had a opportunity to invade the turf tissue.
Here's another lawn where there is a big patch of Rust disease.
Solutions- Normally this disease will grow out and disappear. In the meantime it does discolour the lawn and give it an unhealthy appearance.
1 Mow the lawn higher to allow the grass to start growing
2 If necessary water the lawn to help it to start growing. Especially this year, as the last few weeks have been extremely dry. Avoid watering in the evening.
3 Depending on when you last applied fertilizer, an application to encourage the grass to grow will help the disease to be "grown" out. Make sure to use a fertilizer that is mostly slow release.
(Turf King uses a 75% slow release product-this is the best, but a 50-60% slow release is adequate for this time of year.)
4 Aerating the lawn will also encourage new roots to form. This will in turn encourage more top growth.
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have a lawn/tree/shrub that needs some Tender Loving Care- get The KING OF
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