Your lawn won’t usually turn from good to bad overnight. It will suffer a slow deterioration over a longer period of time.

It is important you take notice of any of the following changes in the appearance of your grass. Then you need to act as quickly as possible to rectify the cause of the problem. If you don’t, it could get worse and you’ll end up with even more problems.

Here are 5 common things to look out for:

Increase in weeds

When weeds appear, it can be a sign your lawn isn’t as healthy, thick and established as it should be. Weeds are starting to find it easier to infiltrate and take over parts of your lawn where grass used to be. Make sure you remove the weeds as soon as possible and take steps to improve the health of your lawn. This could include watering, fertilising, aerating and better lawn mowing techniques. It will depend on what area of your lawn care needs addressing. Sometimes it may be all of the above.

Dry patches or general dryness across the entire lawn

There are generally 2 reasons this occurs. Firstly the lawn is simply not receiving enough water. Secondly, it may be the soil base of your lawn is compacted and not allowing decent water penetration to the roots of your turf. A really good aerate and sometimes an application with a wetting agent will help with this. This is as well as improving or increasing the watering of your lawn.

Fungal appearance

The most common causes of fungal developments in lawns are poor drainage and humidity. If your grass has developed patches of slimy, discoloured, spotted or fungal like growths, you will need to address the cause as soon as possible. This will ensure it doesn’t spread further into your lawn and cause the plant to die. Sometimes you will also need to apply a fungicide in order to get the problem under control. Learn more here.

General discolouration

Discolouration across your lawn can be caused by a few different things. However you will usually find it is due to inconsistencies in either watering, fertilising or soil composition. Addressing these 3 fundamental aspects of lawn health usually provides a more consistent colouring across your entire lawn.

Bare patches

There are a few causes of bare patches including chemical or fertiliser burn, grub or beetle activity, and urine burn. If it’s none of these, you will usually find that the culprit is compaction. Hard soil bases subjected to the hot sun, make it very difficult for grass to grow and establish. This is a common problem during the warmer months. Aerating and deep watering are the key to preventing this from occurring.

If you are on the lookout for these warning signs, then you can stop them in their tracks and the fix is usually an easy one.

For information on caring for your lawn visit our Lawn Care Page.