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Fairy rings

Fairy rings are a group of diseases in turf grass that are caused by fungi. There are thousands of fungi that can cause fairy rings. 

The most common type of fairy ring can be recognised in turf, because it causes the turf to grow dark green, in a ring or arc. These measure about 75-200mm wide as an arc, and up to a metre in diameter as a ring. 

Keep reading for further information about fairy rings and how to treat them in your lawn

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Identification

  • Do you see rings or arcs of dark green in your turf?
  • Do you see rings or arcs of mushrooms?
  • Have you observed the rings or arcs for several years?

If you answer yes to any of the above questions, you could have fairy rings in your turf.

Fairy rings can be many years old, and will grow as long as there is turf for them to grow in. There are other types of fairy rings that cause the grass to turn yellow, others that can cause a patch of stunted, reddish turf, and still others that can cause the grass to wilt and die. You may notice that fairy rings do not grow together when they meet in a lawn. This is how arcs or pieces of fairy rings are formed.

Why do I have fairy rings in the garden lawn

How do fairy rings get started?

Fairy rings begin when a fungus starts growing in your turf. What causes a fungus to start growing in turf is not clear to scientists, but often grass that has a thatch layer and is growing on natural soils that receive ample moisture, will develop fairy rings. Fairy rings will grow in finely manicured turfs, sports turfs, golf greens, and unmown swards. In general, they grow at a rate of about 75-150mm per year.

Can you see the fairy ring fungi?

Yes, sometimes if you take a pocket knife and cut across the fairy ring, you will see white threads growing in the thatch. The white threads are mycelium of the fairy ring fungi.

What causes the turf in a fairy ring to grow faster and look dark green

Fairy ring fungi are beneficial fungi that attack and breakdown dead and decaying plant material. Thatch is a mat of dead plant material, and the fairy ring fungi can live and grow in it. As they do, they cause the dead plant material to decay. The decaying material is used by many different micro-organisms that live in the soil. When this happens, nitrogen and other nutrients important for turf growth are made available to the plant. Hence, the plant is able to use these nutrients to grow taller and darker.

Do fairy ring fungi attack turf?

Generally not, and if they do, they do not kill the grass. However, after the fairy ring fungi have colonised the thatch layer, and it starts to dry out, a problem arises for the turf. Turf and thatch that have fairy ring fungi colonising them resist being watered, much like a sponge after it has dried out. Thus, when turf colonised by a fairy ring dries out, it resists being watered. Therefore, this grass often does not get enough water. As a result, this grass suffers from drought, even though the grass outside and inside of the fairy ring grows well. If the drought lasts too long, this grass will be stunted, wilt and could then die.

What can you do about fairy rings?

There are several things that you can do to avoid or reduce the appearance of fairy rings.

To reduce the potential of fairy rings occurring:

  1. Purchase high quality turf.
  2. Prepare your soil properly before installing turf or planting grass seed.

If you have a fairy ring in your turf:

  1. Fertilise your grass to reduce the appearance of the fairy ring.
  2. Aerate your grass to allow water to reach the grass roots in the fairy ring.
  3. Once or twice a year, spread and rake 6mm of good topdressing or soil into your turf.

Can you use a fungicide to eliminate fairy rings?

Yes, there are fungicides approved for use to control fairy rings, but their effectiveness may be inconsistent. If you are considering the use of fungicides to treat fairy rings, consult a turf expert. We also recommend that you obtain advice about chemical and non-chemical grass treatment products directly from the manufacturers

Can you eliminate fairy rings without fungicides or soil sterilisation?

Yes, but it is difficult. You would need to dig out and replace, to a depth of about 300mm, all of the soil within the fairy ring and about 300mm outside of the ring. This is not recommended.

Remember

Fairy rings are caused by fungi that live in most soils, and they decompose dead plant material. Generally, they do not attack living turf, and the best method to control them is through masking their appearance with fertiliser. 

Further guidance

Further lawn care advice can be found in our Information Centre. You can also sign up for lawn tips to receive regular lawn care advice, news and promotional offers by email which will help you get the best from your lawn.

For more techniques to help you maintain a healthy lawn, explore our other lawn aftercare advice.

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Important update: Temporary 6.5% surcharge effective 7 April 

At Rolawn, we are committed to maintaining the high standards of quality and service our customers expect, so we want to be open with our customers about a change that will affect pricing from Tuesday 7th April. 

This decision has been taken in response to disruption to energy supplies, which has led to significant increases in wholesale prices, affecting not only fuel and fertiliser but also costs throughout our wider supply chain. As a business that relies heavily on fuel for both transport and operations, these sustained cost pressures have become increasingly difficult to absorb.  

While we have worked hard to mitigate the impact, the scale and pace of recent price increases have now exceeded what we can sustain internally, and we therefore need to recover a proportion of these externally driven increases. 

From Tuesday 7th April, a temporary 6.5% surcharge will apply to all products.  

We know that any increase in price is frustrating, particularly at a time when many businesses and households are already feeling under pressure. That is why we want to be clear that this is not a decision we have made lightly, and not one we wanted to make. It has been introduced solely to help offset unavoidable cost inflation and allow us to continue delivering the quality, reliability and service standards associated with Rolawn. 

We will continue to monitor market conditions closely and will review this surcharge as soon as circumstances allow, providing reasonable notice of any changes. We recognise that any price increase is unwelcome, but this step is necessary to ensure the continuity and reliability of our operations during a period of ongoing uncertainty. 

We remain committed to providing the quality, reliability and service standards you expect from Rolawn, and we truly appreciate your understanding and continued support. 

If you have any questions, please contact our customer support team who will be happy to help.