[rookie1]

Hi Folks - it's me again..... was just having a look to see if my lavender needed pruning and noticed that quite a few of the leaves have brown spots on them, with pits in places, and generally looking unhealthy.  Is this another case of some kind of mildew (posted a couple of weeks ago on this subject) and do I need to spray the plants, or hope that it will sort itself out?  I've also noticed my magnolia tree has brown and white patches on some of the leaves and some new late buds/flowers look decidedly manky .... plus, some of the weeds in the garden have bright orange spots on their leaves... help;  I'm being taken over by fungus ....   Any advice welcome.  Am about to seed a new lawn and am worried that we've got some serious disease in the garden.

pic of lavender leaves attached.

[Goosegirl]

I wonder if it is due to the rain droplets on the leaves that acts like a magnifying glass which can burn them when the sun comes out.  Weeds with orange spots? Not sure, could be a type of rust, but a pic would help.

[Annen]

I've noticed quite a few trees/plants in my garden going into autumn mode already, and looking a bit tired, especially ones that are in open places.  I think it must be because of the long very dry summer we have had here.  The plants that are more shaded are still looking quite fresh.

[rookie1]

hi Goosegirl. Have taken a pic this morning. These spots are darker as I've dug out most of the weeds with this affliction now so couldn't find one to photograph. When the spots first appear they are much brighter orange than this, but hopefully it will give you an idea. If it is a fungal disease, hopefully by digging them all out it won't spread to other species ...?

[rookie1]

here's a bigger version of the pic

[Goosegirl]

Good photos, and I think it is some sort of fungal disease as I can see little pustules around some main spots, plus the orange colour which makes me think of some kind of rust infecting the leaves. Thing is, I am no expert on this, but know that certain types of plants are prone to their own specific type of rust, such as rose rust, hollyhock rust, leek rust, and probably many more examples of this can be found online. To my knowledge, rust is an umbrella term for various specific types that will only target plants they have a propensity for and only when the weather is right. You can't do anything about the weather conditions that promotes rust, but don't think it will go all over your garden! Having said this and looking at your original post again, you only noticed the orange spots on certain weeds and not on your plants. The spots on your lavender and Magnolia may still be due to the sun on water droplets, as they tend to be a brown colour rather than orange, or it may just be a form of mildew which shouldn't affect the plants if well-established. I've just gone out to look at my one and only lavender whichhas no spots on its leaves, but that's nothing to go by. Personally, I wouldn't worry about the weed rust (if that's what it is and not knowing the type of weed) going onto your other plants. As I said, they are species-specific, but just goggle lavender and Magnolia to see if they have their own species-specific rust.

[rookie1]

thanks GG. That sounds reassuring... when I've googled rust, I saw that there certain species specific (!) types, and it certainly does look like it could be that.... We've only had this garden a year and I was just getting panicked that there was something bad happening all over the place... I'll have another look at the magnolia and lavender diseases online to see what those symptoms might be. Crikey - it's complicated, this gardening lark, ain't it..  Thanks for all your help.