nambucca wrote:
I have what supposedly is a fairy ring which no matter what i do including
digging it out completely as per RHS and re turfing it reappears
.........however the recent rains have made it worse and now 2 more sections
6 ft and 12 ft away have appeared

We laid the lawn 32 years ago and its always scarified, and treated with
both spring and autumn feed

I am utterly desperate over the appearance of more bare questionable patches
with recent rains .......have only had 3 small mushrooms appear at one end
though

First let me say that you probably already know most of what I'm going
to tell you, and you may think that if the lawn has done well for 32
years then your methods must be correct. However, soil conditions change
over time, and poor (or 'wrong') maintenance will eventually catch up
and manifest itself as 'puzzling' problems.

Having suffered from severe lawn problems myself last year, here's some
of the advice I've been given:

1) ... Most lawn problems come down to inadequate maintenance. Even if
you *think* you're doing a good job, it probably still isn't good enough.

2) ... One greenkeeper suggested to me that if the soil is in relatively
good condition, then I should not feed the lawn *at all* ... ever.
Overfeeding, or feeding when it isn't necessary simply causes the grass
to become 'feed dependant' - i.e. don't feed the grass, and it will
become a more resilient plant.

3) ... Ditto for watering. Most plants hate having their feet wet, so
unless you have world-class drainage and live in a very hot climate,
then you probably don't need to water your lawn much at all. Wait until
there are very obvious signs that the grass is struggling (turning
yellow) ... *then* water it. Slightly dehydrated is better than
waterlogged ... for most plants. You'll also encourage good root
development, as the grass digs deeper in search of water.

4) ... WRT thatch: the same greenkeeper asked me if I de-thatched my
lawn, and I said "yes". He then asked me to demonstrate, so I got out my
lawn rake and attacked the lawn with it - really putting 100% into it.
When I was finished, I'd collected one full bag (black rubbish bag size)
of moss and thatch (from about 50' x 30'). He looked at the lawn, looked
at me, then fired up this thing called a "ThatchAway" machine. When he'd
finished he'd collected another *3 full bags* of thatch and moss! Moral:
you can never de-thatch enough.

As for the fungal infection (Fairy Rings) - the spores are everywhere so
you probably won't be able to 'remove' the infection. The best you can
do is make your grass tougher than the fungus.

--
[H]omer

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