Lawn diseases can quickly turn your vibrant-looking lawn into a patchy mess. However, it all can be prevented if you learn how to recognize the disease early on and deal with it on time.
In this guide, we'll explore how to spot the most common lawn diseases and offer effective treatment options before they have the chance to spread. So, let’s dive into it.
Importance of Spotting and Treating Common Lawn Disease on Time
Before diving further into the article, let’s understand the importance of spotting and treating common lawn diseases on time. The primary reasons include the following:
- Timely treatment prevents the spread of diseases to healthy areas of your lawn, ensuring minimal damage.
- Addressing issues early reduces the cost and effort required for extensive lawn restoration later.
- Maintaining a healthy lawn improves curb appeal and enhances the overall value of your property.
- Early intervention protects the lawn’s root system, promoting long-term health and resilience.
- Preventing disease ensures a lush, green lawn that is more resistant to pests and environmental stress.
Brown Patch
Brown patch is a fungal disease. Typically, it thrives in hot and humid conditions, affecting cool-season grasses like fescue, ryegrass, and bentgrass.
Common signs include circular brown patches or “tan grass” that might expand over time. The main causes behind brown patches include excessive nitrogen fertilization and prolonged leaf wetness.
Brown patches can be treated; for instance, you can:
- Improve drainage and reduce watering to prevent excess moisture.
- Mow the lawn at the recommended height to promote air circulation.
- Apply a fungicide labeled for brown patch control if the disease persists.
Dollar Spot
Dollar spot is another common lawn disease that creates small, silver-dollar-sizes spots on grass. It is quite common in nitrogen-deficient lawns. To identify dollar spot disease, look for small, straw-colored patches of grass with lesions on individual blades.
Other common causes of dollar spots, besides lack of nitrogen, include poor nutrition and dry soil conditions.
To effectively treat dollar spot, you should:
- Apply a balanced fertilizer to correct nitrogen deficiency.
- Water deeply but infrequently to maintain proper soil moisture.
- Use fungicides if the disease becomes severe or widespread.
Leaf Spot
Leaf spot oftentimes groups with meting out disease and mainly affects turfgrass. It looks like small spits on the leaves of the grass that are typically brown and sometimes can be reddish around the edges. It is caused by a pathogen that mostly affects lawns during heat seasons.
In order to treat leaf spots, you need to do the following:
- Aerate the lawn to improve soil drainage and reduce compaction.
- Reduce watering and avoid watering in the late evening.
- Apply a fungicide suitable for leaf spot control if needed.
Aeration, in fact, will help you cure and prevent many other types of lawn diseases. It helps to deliver necessary nutrients to the grassroots and prevent excessive weed growth and other problems that lead to fungus. The key is to do it right or find experts that provide professional aeration services.
Fairy Ring
Fairy ring is caused by Marasmius oreades, which is known as Fairy Ring Mushroom and grows around 12 inches under the ground. It causes rings of lush, dark green grass or dead grass in a circular pattern. It is relatively easy to identify due to its specific circular patterns.
So, here is how you should treat fairy rings:
- Aerate and water deeply to disrupt the fungal activity.
- Remove and replace affected soil if the disease is severe.
- Apply a fungicide labeled for fairy ring control.
Necrotic Ring Spot
Primarily, necrotic rung spots affect cold-season turfgrass, including Fine Fescue and Kentucky Bluegrass. It creates circular patches of dead grass. Causes include poor soil health and drought stress.
In order to treat necrotic ring spots effectively, you need to do the following:
- Overseed with resistant grass varieties to restore the affected areas.
- Improve soil health by adding organic matter.
- Apply a fungicide specifically targeting the necrotic ring spot.
Red Thread
Red thread, otherwise known as pink patch, is quite a common fungal disease. The thing about this disease that makes it particularly dangerous is that it can occur overnight if the conditions are right. It causes reddish or pink threads to appear on grass blades.
Red thread oftentimes attacks your grass during warmer and humid seasons. Law lawn soils are especially prone to this disease and are nutrient-deficient or poorly drained.
Here is how you treat red threads on your lawn:
- Fertilize the lawn to correct nutrient deficiencies.
- Improve airflow by mowing and removing excess thatch.
- Use fungicides if the disease persists despite cultural controls.
Leaf Blight
Most commonly affecting turfgrasses such as Kentucky Bluegrass, Fescue, and Perennial Ryegrass, leaf blight is a fungal disease that damages grass blades. The main symptoms by which you can identify if this is the type of disease your lawn aces are water-soaked lesions on leaves that turn yellow or brown.
In order to treat lead blight, you can:
- Reduce lawn stress by maintaining proper mowing height.
- Water deeply but less frequently to encourage strong roots.
- Apply fungicides if symptoms worsen.
Melting Out
Melting out is a fungal disease that starts with leaf spots and progresses to thinning grass or bare patches. To identify this disease before it spreads and affects your whole lawn, look for small lesions on grass blades that spread and cause thinning. Dense turf and excessive moisture are two leading causes of melting-out fungal disease.
To deal with lawn melting out, make sure to:
- Aerate to improve airflow and reduce soil compaction.
- Reduce watering frequency to keep the turf dry.
- Use a fungicide labeled for melting out if cultural practices fail.
Slime Mold
Slime mold is a non-pathogenic organism that forms slimy patches on grass blades but does not kill the grass. To identify slime mold, look for slim, gray, or white patches on grass blades. Typically, it is caused by high humidity or damp weather conditions.
Slime mold can be treated if you do the following:
- Remove slime mold by brushing it off or mowing.
- Reduce moisture by improving drainage and watering less often.
- Aerate the soil to improve airflow.
Powdery Mildew
Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that typically forms a white, powdery coating on the grass. You can identify this disease by looking for white spots on grass blades, which can spread if you do not address it on time. The causes of powdery mildew mainly include poor airflow and shade.
In order to efficiently treat powdery mildew, you need to:
- Trim surrounding plants to allow more sunlight onto the lawn.
- Improve airflow by mowing and reducing thatch.
- Use fungicides specifically labeled for powdery mildew control.
Yard Dawgs Your Best Partner for Achieving a Healthy Lawn
If you are looking for professional lawn care services to achieve healthier-looking and vibrant lawns, then you are in the right place. Yard Dawgs offers expert lawn care services.
We will help you to spot diseases early on, cure them, and take measures to prevent further disease. Contact us to learn more about our offering and how we can tailor special solutions for you.
