If you suspect a fungal disease in your lawn, you should do the following…
- Test the Soil – Conducting a soil test can not only identify nutrient deficiencies that lead to stressed lawns and disease but sometimes can be used to diagnose the disease itself.
- Aerate – Loosen soil by aerating your lawn every year or two
Lawn fungal diseases take on a variety of forms, from dead-looking brown patches to highly visible spots, threads, rings, or slime. And once they strike your yard, grass fungal diseases can be difficult to treat. Nearly every single lawn disease is caused by fungus, and while there are many different types of fungi, it’s important to make sure you understand how to prevent, control, and eliminate fungal infections on your property.
How to Know When A Fungus is Affecting Your Lawn
Fungi are more likely to affect your lawn if you have weak grass, or you over water, or the thatch protecting your yard isn’t thick. That’s one of the reasons that proper lawn care is so important. Great lawn care will choke out all invaders, and make it much harder for fungus to grow. Fortunately, the right lawn care practices can go a long way toward prevention and treatment; and in severe cases, a fungicide can help eradicate the spores to keep it from spreading. If these conditions are affecting your lawn, you are already at risk for fungus. You can also help identify fungal invasions with the following:
- Signs of Mushrooms – Mushrooms are the spore-producing structures of some fungi. A mushroom consists of a stalk and a cap, and in most species the spores are formed on gills. When ripe, the spores fall downwards and are carried away from the mushroom on air currents. A spore that lands on a moist surface with nutrients can form a new fungal colony, but must mate with another colony of the same species before a new mushroom can be produced. Not all lawn fungi cause mushrooms. But any visible mushroom is a clear sign that there is a fungal problem. If you see even one mushroom, or mushroom-like growth, your lawn has a fungus.
- Brown Patch Disease – Brown Patch lawn disease is a common and widespread problem caused by Rhizoctonia solani fungus. The disease can infect a variety of common turfgrasses but the most susceptible grass species include perennial ryegrass, tall fescue, and the bentgrasses. Brown Patch can also become a problem to Kentucky bluegrasses in mid-to-late summer during extended periods of high temperature and humidity. Remember, all fungi can cause different problems. But dead grass that appears to be in some type of set size or pattern may be a fungal infection. For example, you may see silver dollar size spots, or you may see a ring. All of these are fungi.
- Broad, Unpatterned Dead Grass – Of course, in some cases the lack of a pattern may be telling you something as well. A single dead spot doesn’t necessarily mean fungi (it could be dog urine or poor watering, for example), but dead grass that appears to be spreading despite proper watering and maintenance may be fungi.
- Discolorations on Grass Blades – During the leaf spot phase of this lawn disease (spring or fall), individual grass blades will have large numbers of lesions (or infection marks) that appear a little like a cigarette burn, a dark circle with a tan spot in the center. During this part of the leaf spot lawn disease, the grass takes on a brown under cast making it appear underfed or dried out. Even though leaf spot does not do significant damage to the turf during this phase, it sets the stage for the much more serious melting-out phase. Many fungi attack the blades of grass individually. Keep an eye out for spores, discolorations, lesions, and more on a grass blade. Usually when grass dies, the whole blade dies together. But if the blades have strange colors or unexplainable problems, it may be a fungi.
Every type of fungi has its own unique features. ,specialists know exactly what your lawn needs and what changes you may need to make to achieve a lawn you’ll love.
A&A Lawn Care & Landscaping would be happy to go through your lawn with you to determine what is causing your lawn problems. We have vast experience spotting and eliminating Fungal Disease in Lawns.
Contact Us (859-384-0266) for a Free Consultation!
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About A & A Lawn Care & Landscaping
About A & A Lawn Care & LandscapingA & A Lawn Care & Landscaping can beautify your lawn and landscaping using our vast experience in turf grass management. Our complete lawn service is designed for both residential and commercial lawns and we keep your lawn healthy without harming your family, staff, or pets.