Is Your Lawn Diseased?
Even the most well-kept lawn can end up with a patch or two that doesn't look quite right. If you properly maintain your grass with basic lawn care like regular watering, mowing, and pest control, but you still find yourself with patches that look sick, there's a good chance your lawn has a disease.
So how do you know if your grass is sick?
Diagnose Your Lawn
In some areas, the parks and rec department has a dedicated employee whose job it is to help you diagnose you are lawn, trees, and garden when you think they may be sick.
This service is not offered everywhere, but it's definitely worth a call to your local government officials to see if this is something your area offers.
These officials will be well-versed in the diseases local to your region, and should be able to help you quickly diagnose and fix the problem.
We also recommend checking with your neighbors before you call for professional help. There's a good chance your neighbor's lawn has the same problem as yours, and they may already have the solution.
Lots of these lawn diseases can spread, so there's a good chance you're in good company when discolored grass pops up.
Common Lawn Diseases
Brown Circles
Brown patches are a common indicator of lawn disease, usually showing up in rough circles or rings in your lawn. Sometimes the brown color will have some variation throughout the patch, but it's pretty easy to spot when it shows up.
The grass inside this patch may be dead, but the good news is, even this grass should grow back once the disease is fixed. We recommend an anti-disease fertilizer to fix this problem.
Red Brown Patches
If your soil is nutrient-poor, and you live in a humid, cooler area, there's a good chance your grass will end up with reddish-brown patches throughout. Giving your lawn the nutrition that it needs will likely solve this problem and help clear up the red patches.
Snow Mold
If you live in an area that sees a lot of snow, you can get snow mold in your lawn. Snow mold patches on your grass are either pink or gray and are the result of snow sitting on your lawn.
While this problem usually sorts itself out, running some anti-disease fertilizer through your yard doesn't hurt.
Rust Disease
Light green or yellow patches throughout your lawn can be rust disease. Fertilizing and aerating your lawn throughout the year will prevent these patches from forming in your grass.
You'll likely see these pop up in shady areas with poor aeration, so fertilizing and aerating your lawn will help alleviate the problem.
Summer Patch
Dry and dead patches in crescent shape throughout your lawn are considered "summer patch." These dead patches show up during the summer when temperatures are high and humidity is high.
You don't have to live in a humid area though to have these patches show up in your lawn. Make sure that your lawn is regularly watered and fertilized to prevent and treat these dead patches.
And when in doubt, run an antifungal or anti-disease fertilizer through your lawn. Follow the specific instructions on the back of the bottle or box for best results.
