Tag Archives: Red Thread

Red thread is the common name for the fungal lawn disease laetisaria fuciformis. It is a very common lawn disease in the UK.

Red thread on lawns

The infection appears as circular patches of brown / pink coloured patches of grass. Upon closer inspection, fine red cotton-like strands grow out of the grass leaves. This is where it gets it’s name.

The infection moves between grass plants and spreads across a lawn. It can dramtically affect the look of a lawn.

Find out more about laetisaria fuciformis, how to spot it and how to control it, in these blog posts.

Question: Lawn looking like straw after cut

I received this question from a reader from surrey in August 2017 who is worried his newly turfed lawn looks like straw. Unfortunately I live in surrey but came across your site. Thank you for offering to reply to my email. I installed a lawn 3 months ago. I put down 20 tonnes of topsoil. It was growing… Read More »

Why does grass turn yellow in the winter?

grass leaves turning yellow in the winter

In the UK, the winter months of December, January and February are cold and dark. There can be as little as 8 hours of daylight per day, and most of this can clouded over. Many plants hibernate through the winter because it is not worth them trying to make food. Trees drop their leaves and herbaceous plants die… Read More »

The first case of red thread disease in 2013

Red thread disease (Laetisaria fuciformis) is a fungal infection which can attack grass in warm, wet summers. In 2012, red thread rose to almost epidemic levels, infecting almost 70% of lawns in the South Manchester area. The recent wet weather has meant that the grass sward is damp for most of the day which are ideal conditions for… Read More »