|
 |
You are > Home > Fairy Rings
|
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Fairy Rings
NOVEMBER IS the month when mushrooms and toadstools suddenly appear as if from nowhere.
Like nasal hairs their arrival is sudden; one minute there's nothing, the next, there they are! The majority live on dead plant material, and are thus completely harmless and they soon disappear as weather conditions change and temperatures decrease.
Although many kinds of toadstool can put in an appearance on lawns, only one will cause serious damage-fairy rings. These rings manifest themselves in three grades, two of which are easy to eliminate or disguise, but the third will break your heart for it involves removing large amounts of soil from the area affected.
A grade 3 fairy ring is usually just an inconvenience, and it consists of toadstools popping up in a ringed formation which can grow wider and wider each year. If the grass within or around this circle does not discolour then no remedial action is necessary and the toadstools will disappear in a matter of weeks.
A grade 2 fairy ring is recognised by a dark green band of grass around the edge of the ring, and while this can be unsightly (and difficult to remedy) its effects can be reduced by regular feeding and attention to seasonal maintenance. In this way, the colour of the ring is constantly masked by the overall rich green of the lawn.
When we come to a grade 1 fairy ring, we do indeed have a problem. Two dark-green rings are formed in the lawn and the space between these becomes bare and moss-ridden.
The area involved may be quite small (or cover a considerable area) but in either case, control is difficult. Claims for miracle cures are constantly being put forward but no water-on technique I have ever heard of really works.
You could try Sulphate of Iron at the rate of half an ounce per gallon of water over every square yard, but nothing is guaranteed for the underground fungal growth waterproofs the soil. Adding a drop of washingup liquid may increase the wet-ability of the Iron solution but the chances of success are really limited.
The real answer to a grade 1 fairy ring infection is to excavate the soil to a depth of one foot all around the area involved. The excavation should extend to 1 foot beyond the inner and outer edges of the ring, and all the earth should be moved well away from the rest of the lawn.
In fact, care should be taken not to spill any excavated soil for infection may be spread in this manner. The excavated hole should then be filled with fresh soil, firmed, and reseeded.
Gardeners who wish to eliminate such fairy rings from lawns would be advised to take control measures before the end of November for it is the optimum time for such work. Reseeding can then be undertaken (up to the end of November) given that you live in a warm area.
Main News Page |
Previous Page
|
|
|
|
