I have a tall fescue lawn that has either pythium blight or Brown Patch and is getting worse by the day. The lawn gets frequently watered and fertilised. What products should I use to get rid of this problem?

• Brown patch or ring spot is prevalent in summer during warm humid weather and warm overnight temperatures, and in poorly drained soils. Is the lawn being watered at night or in the morning? Morning is the best time to water the lawn as it has time to dry out during the day. Overnight watering creates a damp environment for fungal diseases to grow.
• Pythium blight is caused by poor drainage or the lawn sitting damp overnight if watering in the evening, pythium can be identified by white cobweb like fungal growth on the lawn.
• Talk to your local garden centre or hardware store for a suitable fungicide control product for lawns.
• Change the time of day that the lawn is watered if watering in the evening so that the lawn doesn't sit wet for long periods of time.
• Improve the drainage in the lawn, apply gypsum to help break down clay soils or aerate the lawn by using spikes strapped to the bottom of shoes, these are available in garden centres or hardware stores.
• Regular applications of a nitrogen rich fertiliser can cause soft growth that becomes more susceptible to fungal disease, use a low nitrogen fertiliser that stimulates root growth such as Tui LawnForce New Lawns.
• Feed lawns in autumn and again in early spring, avoid excessive applications of nitrogen rich fertilisers going into summer so that the lawn goes into autumn hardened off.
• Mow your lawn on a high setting and make sure the blade is sharp to get a clean cut.