Lawn Disorder, What is a Fairy Ring?
Fairy Rings can make a great lawn look unsightly due to their effect on the grass and soil around them. They can also provide an environment for mushrooms and other fungal growth that adds their ugliness and ability to generate disdain, despise and a slew of other hostile words from any true lawn care tech!
Not only are they unsightly to look at, but this disorder is one of the hardest lawn/turf problems to remedy. Most post practices generally aim to disguise its’ occurrence with little to no success, rather than address the cause of the problem. Prevention is always better and typically costs much less because with Fairy Ring you have the opportunity to wait until the following season to rectify, (If you can handle looking at it for the season).
Now as a note, this is a lawn disorder! and not a disease! And is the reason why the curative techniques tend to fail. An understanding of soil and lawn annual temperature cycles are required to help prevent this disorder.
“So, what exactly is a Fairy Ring?”
Well back in the day when science wasn’t much of a thing, people thought that the ring was the aftermath from bunch of Fairies creating magic, healing and doing highly technical “Fairy Stuff” in an area. Consequently, the name stuck and is probably coolest common name any lawn disorder has today.
There are 3 types of Fairy Ring, and they were not named with as much elegance:
- Type 1 Fairy Ring
- This type has a dark green lush ring with a sub ring of dead grass with hydrophobic soil inside it, becoming extremely evident when soils start to dry.
- Type 2 Fairy Ring
- This is just the dark green ring of excessive growth that gradually expands. This is also known as the “Superficial Fairy Ring” as no damage other than aesthetic is caused. But does have a negative aesthetic if surrounding grass is suffering from low fertility.
- Type 3 Fairy Ring
- Mushrooms and toadstools are evident within the dark lush green ring of this Fairy Ring. and that’s the only visual difference.
What’s the Cause?
Excessive thatch and or organic matter in your lawn initiates the process of mycelia breaking down the thatch/organic matter (old grass stems and leaves). Mycelia are bacteria that eat thatch and break it down into humis. To simplify, bacteria eat old dead grass leaves, digest then poop it out. In some cases, this “poop” can be waxy and covers soil particles that creates a hydrophobic water impenetrable layer that become inhabitable for lawn roots to feed and draw moisture from. Consequently, leading to a dead patch of grass. = (Type 1 Fairy Ring)
Other times there is no waxy residue because it may be a different type of bacteria breaking down the thatch. This process though does make an abundance of nutrients available in the soil from the decomposition process and as a result all adjacent grasses take advantage of this freely available food source and start growing like crazy. Additionally, because they are getting the majority of nutrients it needs, turf color, vigor and regenerative capabilities are at a max, resulting in the dark green dense ring of grass. = (Type 2 Fairy Ring)
Sometimes evidence of Fairy Ring only shows up during times of prolonged wet soil, maybe caused by slow/bad drainage or long wet cooler weather patterns. The manifestation of puffball mushrooms or toadstools become visible as they start to crowd over your grass creating these fungal growths that always prompt my imagination to think about the mushrooms being a platform that fairies do their dancing on! (I know, I’m crazy, it’s ok!) = (Type 3 Fairy Ring)
What’s the Solution?
A blend of preventative cultural and chemical controls is necessary to reduce and eventually eliminate fairy rings. Regular thatch removal and core aerification practices need to be carried out. Maybe core twice a year if you can, if you can do more to the affected areas, great! Check your thatch, see if you have an excess, reduce thatch by regular verticutting or use your spring rake to scrape the thatch out. (Last one is a better workout than P90X!)
Chemical control should happen way before any indication of the fairy ring occurs in the following season. Wait for spring to come and monitor your soil temperature. When the soil temperature rises and consistently stays above 50F, then apply a preventative application of Tebuconazole at labelled rate. Make sure you time this appropriately and get the chemical into the soil. Irrigate or time any rainfall to wash it into the soil about a 1/2 inch. You can also apply a penetrant wetting agent (not a holder at this time) to get the chemical into the soil and off the leaf blade. If you see signs of it in summer, I recommend a holding wetting agent at this time.
Lastly, and probably most important, just go out do a surprise quick check of the affected, you might get lucky and prove the lore is true!
