Dr. Phyto

Blue fescue

Festuca glauca

Diseases & pests on this plant

• red thread (lawn disease)Laetisaria fuciformis

  Irregular patches of bleached, straw-pink grass from a few cm to ~25 cm across; close up, tiny coral-pink to red gelatinous threads and branching needles bind the dead leaf tips together — the diagnostic sign; in damp weather a faint pink cotton-wool web may show. Grass is killed only at the leaf, not the root, so the lawn recovers.

• pink snow mouldMicrodochium nivale

  Patches of dead seedlings emerging after snowmelt, pinkish-white fluffy mycelium covering plants in cold humid mornings, surviving plants are stunted with brown crown rot.

• Leaf spot and common root rotBipolaris sorokiniana

  Small dark brown to black leaf spots, often with a yellow halo, that enlarge and merge to blight whole leaves in warm, humid weather; on close-mown turf this becomes a general thinning and bronzing. Below ground the same fungus causes a brown rot of roots, crowns and stem bases, so plants are easily pulled up and the turf melts out in diffuse, irregular brown areas. Most damaging in warm summer spells on stressed, thatchy lawns.

• crown rust of oatPuccinia coronata

  Bright orange-yellow pustules on leaves with characteristic crown-shaped teliospores in late season, severe infection causes premature leaf death + lodging, kernels do not fill properly leading to shrivelled grain, in epidemic years 50%+ yield loss with poor grain quality.

• sheath blightRhizoctonia solani
• Grey snow mould (Typhula blight)Typhula incarnata

  Circular bleached, straw-grey to silvery patches up to about 30 cm across that appear as snow melts in late winter and early spring. Leaves within the patch are matted and water-soaked, often with a greyish-white fungal felt; the diagnostic clue is tiny hard reddish-brown to dark resting bodies (sclerotia, pinhead-sized) embedded in the dead leaves and crowns. Damage is usually to the foliage only, so affected lawns commonly recover as growth resumes.