Lawn Diseases and How to Treat Them

Has your lawn been plagued by a disease recently? Don’t worry. Perhaps it is one of those common lawn diseases that can be easily identified and treated. But how? This article will help you do just that. Read below to know the different common lawn diseases and learn how to treat them.

Brown Patch: This disease is most commonly seen in tall fescue and ryegrass. It may attack all other cool-season grasses and some warm-season grasses as well. You can easily identify Brown patch from its distinctive “smoke ring.” Sometimes it is visible on the outer edge.

Brown patch occurs when there are extended periods of heat and humidity. It occurs especially when nighttime temperatures are above 68 F.

How to treat it?

• Don’t overwater or overfertilize the lawn.
• The grass will also need good air circulation.
• Avoid lawn compaction as it can worsen the situation.
• Try removing the dew or guttation water that collects on the grass leaves each morning.
• Fungicides can be effective if you apply it before the onset of the disease.

Snow Mold: When prolonged snow covers your lawn during the spring it can lead to gray snow mold or pink snow mold. It occurs especially if the ground is not quite frozen. Two fungi, namely Typhula blight (gray snow mold) and Fusarium patch (pink snow mold) are the culprits here.

How to treat it?

• Rake the damage spots to aerate the grass blades and help them dry out. There will be new growth as the damage will be gone soon.
• Rake up leaves during the fall to reduce the trapped moisture.
• Avoid applying nitrogen fertilizer in the fall.

Powdery Mildew: One of the most common and easily recognized diseases that affect almost all plants is Powdery Mildew. It appears like a white dust covering the grass blades. This disease is not likely to cause extensive damage to a lawn.

Prolonged cloudiness can cause powdery mildew however if the problem is not to do with the weather, conditions may need to be changed for a healthy lawn.

How to treat it?

• Remove and destroy the infected plant parts.
• Boost air circulation by thinning and pruning.
• Avoid fertilizing until the problem is corrected.
• Avoid watering plants from above.
• Try a fungicide.

Start identifying the disease and follow the tips to maintain a healthy and lush lawn.