Disease Management

Diseases are usually aggravated by improper watering:

“The road to The Infernal Reaches is paved with good intentions.” That phrase usually applies to customers who try to manage turf diseases without proper guidance in how to do it best.

Mistake #1: “I saw my lawn turning brown, so I figured it needed more water.” HUGE mistake! And the most common one that we encounter. Most fungal diseases LOVE water, moisture, and humidity. You’re just fanning the flames here.
Mistake #2: “I just paid $3000 for this irrigation system and , dammit, I’m gonna run this bad boy until my lawn stays green!” HUGE mistake. Please reference comment from Mistake #1.
Mistake #3: “I’m going to water this several times a day so that my lawn is always getting water, it’s bound to stay green that way.” HUGE mistake. Continue to reference comment from Mistake #1.

Daily watering, and multiple times a day watering, are the worst things you can do to manage fungal diseases, with a few exceptions. There’s a reason that most of our lawns with fungal problems have irrigation systems that are run too often. The trick to managing fungal disease is proper watering. Follow our advice for watering. We leave it every time we service your lawn.

There are some instances where watering, mowing, and fertilizing are all done right and you may still have problems, but those problems are usually manageable and may not require chemical intervention. We can apply fungus controls for more serious cases. Bear in mind that fungus control applications are not a complete cure. They simply control it for a period of about 1 month. They’re like expensive prescription drugs that need to be continued unless conditions change.

Help us to help you by following our instructions for watering and mowing. We leave them every time we visit your lawn. Or call or email us!

Below are brief descriptions of the more common diseases we encounter.

Featured

Snow Mold

There are two types of snow mold fungi: pink snow mold, and gray snow mold. They both occur in temperatures just above freezing and in moist conditions. These conditions occur most frequently under snow cover or anything else that covers the lawn, such as fallen tree leaves.

Brown Patch

Brown Patch fungus is a serious summer disease. It occurs during periods of high heat and humidity. Days in the 90s and nights in the high 60s are perfect for brown patch development. This disease can spring up rapidly and what was green, healthy looking turf the day before can have well-developed patches the next day.

Dollar Spot

Dollar Spot fungus is a foliar disease, which means that it attacks only the blades of grass. It does not effect the most important portions of the plant, which are the crown and roots unless the disease increases in severity. This makes it a serious problem if the disease persists for several weeks and conditions do not favor recovery.

Leaf Spot

Leaf spot/melting out are actually two different fungi, which attack the lawn at different times of the year. Both can be serious problems, especially as the diseases progress. It’s important to note that virtually every lawn has a little bit of leaf spot fungus and just seeing a few spots is generally no cause for alarm.

Pythium Blight

Pythium damping off is a disease that attacks new seedlings. Infected grass either fails to germinate or the seedlings become discolored, topple over, and die. Pythium blight, on mature lawns, begins as small, slimy, or greasy spots. The disease is often referred to as “greasy spot” or “cottony blight.”

Red Thread

Red thread fungus is the most common disease that we encounter. It attacks the upper blades of grass. It does not affect the most important parts of the plant, which are the crown and roots. This makes it the least damaging to the lawn, in the long run, but it can become very unsightly.

Summer Patch

Necrotic Ring Spot and Summer Patch are two different fungi with essentially identical symptoms. The difference is the time of season that they are active. These are both common and serious diseases of Kentucky bluegrass sod that is about 2-4 years old. Both effect the roots of the grass. They do not attack bentgrass or ryegrass.

Lawn - Disease

Disease Management

Below are brief descriptions of the more common diseases we encounter.