🌧️ Cold, Wet, and Now What? How to Fix the Garden Trouble That Spring Left Behind

A serious look at slugs, red thread, leaf curl, and black spot—and how to fight back before summer.

A chilly, rainy spring can feel like a cruel joke to New England gardeners. While we waited for warm weather, our gardens quietly became a breeding ground for fungal diseases, hungry pests, and all sorts of issues that thrive in cold, soggy conditions.

If your plants are looking sad and your lawn is a patchy mess, you’re not alone—and we’ve got solutions.

🐌 Slugs: The Sneaky Saboteurs

What’s Happening:
Slugs have exploded this season thanks to cool, wet soil and dense groundcover. You’ll spot slime trails, chewed leaves (especially on hostas and marigolds), and maybe even catch the culprits themselves on early morning garden patrol.

Why It Matters:
Slugs can destroy young seedlings overnight and turn perennial beds into Swiss cheese.

How to Stop Them:
Apply Bonide Slug Magic in the evening around your most vulnerable plants. This iron phosphate formula is safe for pets and wildlife and remains effective through light rain. It works overnight and breaks down into nutrients for the soil—no mess, no chemicals, no worries.

🍃 Red Thread: When Your Lawn Looks Tired and Pink

What’s Happening:
Cool, wet conditions have triggered an outbreak of Red Thread, a fungal lawn disease. You’ll see tan or pinkish patches, often with thin, red thread-like strands clinging to the grass blades.

Why It Matters:
Red Thread doesn’t kill the grass outright, but it weakens your lawn and leaves it looking stressed and patchy. It thrives in lawns that are low in nitrogen.

How to Fix It:
Skip the fungicide—Red Thread is best beaten with nutrition. Feed your lawn with Jonathan Green’s Green-Up Lawn Food. Its quick-acting nitrogen helps grass grow through the infection, while its slow-release formula keeps it strong long after the rain stops.

✔️ Promotes thick, green turf
✔️ Helps your lawn outgrow and recover from disease
✔️ Strengthens roots and prevents future outbreaks

🍑 Leaf Curl on Fruit Trees: It’s Not Your Imagination

What’s Happening:
Peach and nectarine trees are showing signs of leaf curl—reddened, blistered, or curled leaves that eventually drop off. This is caused by the fungus Taphrina deformans, which thrives in cool, wet springs.

Why It Matters:
Leaf curl weakens your tree, reduces fruit production, and leaves it vulnerable to other problems down the line.

How to Handle It:
Unfortunately, once you see symptoms, it’s too late for a cure this season. The best thing to do now:

• Remove and destroy affected leaves 
• Keep your tree well-fed and watered to encourage healthy new growth 
• Plan ahead: next winter, apply a fungicide spray in late fall or early spring before bud break to prevent next year’s infection 

We can help you choose the right spray and timing based on your tree type.

🌹 Black Spot on Roses: Here We Go Again

What’s Happening:
Your rose leaves are turning yellow with black spots—and it’s not from lack of love. It’s black spot fungus, one of the most common and frustrating rose diseases.

Why It Matters:
Black spot weakens the plant by reducing its ability to photosynthesize. Left unchecked, it can defoliate entire shrubs by mid-summer.

How to Treat It:

• Remove and dispose of any spotted leaves 
• Water at the base—never overhead 
• Improve air circulation by pruning inner branches 
• Apply a rose-safe fungicide regularly (we have several great options in stock, including organic ones!) 
• Feed your roses with a balanced rose fertilizer to boost immune response 

Consistent care is key—don’t give up after one treatment!

Final Thoughts:

New England’s spring weather doesn’t always play fair, but with the right care (and products!), your garden can bounce back stronger than ever. Stop in and talk to our team—we’ve seen it all and can help diagnose and treat whatever your plants are dealing with this season.

Let’s turn spring’s mess into summer success. 🌿💪

Michelle and the Lakeview Plant Geeks!