Fungus has gardeners seeing red

It is the time of year gardeners long for the perfect lawn – and the time when many gardens turn an ugly brown.

The culprit is red threat, a fungus attacking more gardens than ever this year because of the warm and wet start to summer.

Experts reckon up to 80 per cent of lawns have been hit by red thread. Doug Price, who runs lawn treatment service Green Thumb in Wolverhampton, says he had been inundated with calls from frustrated gardeners. He is working on around 20 lawns a day across the area.

And, the warm, moist conditions have also seen a rise in the chafer grub which nibbles at the roots of grass.

Red thread appears randomly as round patches of bleached grass with a reddish hue. On closer inspection, a small red spike can be seen protruding from the tip of the affected blades.

Infection usually occurs in the late summer or autumn during periods of high humidity but the wet spring has led to an unseasonal outbreak.

Many parts of the country have been affected but pockets of the UK have fared worse than others, including the West Midlands.

Mr Price said: "I'm doing around 20 lawns a day from Featherstone to Wombourne and between 14-18 show signs of red thread. It's not a disaster, the grass will recover on its own but some people don't want to look at unsightly lawns so have them treated." The expert added that the chafer grubs were attracting birds and badgers who were digging up lawns to get to them.

Carpet boss Keith White, 54, and his wife Lynne, 50, spotted red thread on the lawn at their Sneyd Lane, Essington, home a few weeks ago, although they did not know what had caused the round, red-tinged patches.

Mother-of-four Lynne said: "The grass looked a bit burned in places. We thought the sun had got to it until we noticed the red. We were due to get the lawn treated anyway and brought it to Doug's attention when he came. I'd never heard of red thread before, we're just glad it's not going to spread."