Like you and your family can get sick, so can your lawn. You put in a lot of time and effort to have a gorgeous lawn. So, when brown patches start appearing, you may feel all that hard work was for nothing. Don’t give up. Identifying the problem and treating it can give you back a healthy lawn.

Before assuming and treating your lawn, it’s important to know exactly what you’re treating for. Browning patches throughout the lawn could be a result of numerous things. Too much or not enough water, insect damage, animal urine, heavy foot traffic, and heat can all be contributing factors. Lawns also get sick from fungus.

There are many types of fungus a lawn can get. The most common is brown patch disease. This fungus can be found in Bermuda, St. Augustine, Kentucky bluegrass, tall fescue, and perennial ryegrass. When the weather warms up in the spring or is too warm in the fall, you may start seeing this disease in your lawn. Varying in size, up to 2-3 feet wide, this fungus can be identified by the sunken, dead circles of grass. Keeping the lawn too wet under high humidity conditions contribute to spreading brown patch disease.

Dollar spot disease is another common fungus found in Bermuda, tall fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, and zoysia lawn types. This disease is active from spring to fall. Signs of this disease consist of oblong dollar size grass areas turning yellow. Stress from a drought, too much moisture, under fertilizing, and failure to dethatch the lawn can cause this disease.

Your lawn can also have mold. Commonly known as snow mold, this type of fungus is considered a winter disease. Wet, cool fall weather can create an onsite to this fungus. Especially in areas that receive a significant amount of snow. Mold can strike any type of grass if conditions are just right. Tall and fine fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, and perennial ryegrass are more susceptible to snow mold. Bermuda, St. Augustine, and zoysia can be affected when lawn is overwatered, has poor drainage and pools up over long periods of time, or receives heavy rain during cooler months and fails to dry out properly. You can identify mold and snow mold by the pink circular spots throughout the lawn. Grass blades can also appear white almost pink in the early morning sunlight. Eventually, these areas will die out turning grass tan to brown.

Proper treatments for each type of fungus are important to keep the fungus from spreading causing further damage.

  1. Dethatch lawn on a regular basis. This separates the grass blades and removes any dead areas throughout the lawn.
  2. Mow at a higher height. 3-3.5” is recommended so grass doesn’t dry out and die from summer temperatures if it’s cut too short. If left too tall, it can’t remove excess moisture and can suffocate the lawn from no air flow.
  3. Apply fungicide designated for your type of fungus. If a person treats a cold with just aspirin, your cold could get worse. Same goes for your lawn. A professional can identify and properly treat for lawn fungus.
  4. Keeping your lawn healthy with the vitamins and nutrients it needs will keep it thriving.
  5. Herbicide treatments will help get rid of those pesky weeds that weaken your grass and making your lawn more vulnerable to diseases.
  6. Check lawn drainage. Make sure your lawn doesn’t stay pooled up for long periods of time. Not only can this harm your lawn and roots, it is also a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
  7. Water properly. Some types of grass require less water more frequently while others are the opposite. More water less frequently. Know what your grass requires.
  8. Hire a professional. Professionals can identify and treat the problems.

We here at Safe Earth Pest Control want to help keep your lawn beautiful and healthy. Contact us today. 214-321-2847