Lawn Fungus Treatments For Dollar Spots
Dollar spots are small circular patches in the lawn that can get up to a few inches in diameter. This is a grass disease that is the result of a fungal infection. The fungus tends to thrive in lawns that are undernourished and areas where the air is moist but the soil is dry.
The first step in preventing dollar spots is to make sure you are providing your lawn with enough nitrogen. Along with that, you want to water your lawn deeply a few times a week. You may also want to consider aerating your lawn to help water and nutrients reach roots.
Grass diseases can be very difficult to get under control once they are established in your lawn. That is why you should focus on prevention. Develop a lawn care plan based on the type of grass you have and the conditions in your yard. Your lawn wont be as vulnerable if you are mowing your lawn to the correct height, providing the right amount of water and using the right fertilizer.
Get all the tools you need to ensure your lawn is looking its best at WORX!
Why Dog Urine Burns Grass
Even though your pet is man’s best friend and loves your lawn as much as you do, dog urine natural wreaks havoc on grass, leaving burned, bare lawn spots or discolored grass behind. Dog urine lawn spots happen because of the high amount of nitrogen and related salts naturally contained in dog urine.1
Female dogs often get blamed for dog urine burning grass, but their urine is no different than that of male dogs.2 When concentrated urine collects in a single area, lawn damage happens. It’s a lot like fertilizer burn.
All dogs that squat to urinate, including females, puppies, elderly dogs, small dogs and some adult males, can burn grass when they urinate in one concentrated area. Because most male dogs lift a leg to “mark” their territory with spurts, they spread their urine over a larger lawn area, so not as many dog urine spots result.
Minor lawn damage due to dog urine spots often resolves on its own as healthy new growth emerges in your lawn.2 However, areas that your dog frequents for urination will typically need dog urine spot repair.
How Can I Fix The Brown Spots On The Lawn
We built a new home a year ago, sod was planted and the grass was beautiful. The lot itself has that terrible clay underneath to begin with and had to amend our soil for our planting. It was recommended that clay soil is very acidic and to sprinkle lime and fertilizer. It grew beautifully for awhile and the last mow was cut down a little too short we think. Therefore these ugly brown spots surfaced up throughout the lawn, both front and back. We’ve noticed our neighbor had good soil put down on their brown lawn and it has returned nice green grass for one thing. Any remedies or suggestions would be very helpful for us to try. Thank you.
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Lawn Repair: How To Fix Brown Spots And Bare Patches
There is more than one way to repair your lawn, and you will need to determine which protocols are best for your situation. For example, if your lawn is thinning but still relatively healthy, you may be able to simply reseed the sparse areas to fill them in. However, if you have a patch of dead grass, you will likely need to remove the dead grass and replace it.
Drought: A Common Cause Of Brown Spots
It is customary for grass to turn brown when there is not enough moisture in the soil. If your lawn is turning brown in spots after a long stretch with high heat and little rain , drought is probably the cause.
Has your grass died?
Probably not. Usually grass that doesnt get enough water simply goes dormant to protect itself, and will green up again when watered regularly.
Solution
If this is your situation your grass will come right back to its lush green color after it has had a good watering.
You can always wait for temperatures to cool and rain to arrive, but if the brown spots in your lawn are bothering you, get an oscillating sprinkler water your lawn. Most turf-grass does best with about an inch of water per week.
Also, when watering your lawn, make sure that your sprinkler is reaching all the spots on your lawn. This may be another reason why you have dormant grass in hot weather.
You might believe you are being diligent in watering your grass, but have actually been missing spots that then become dormant.
This might be why you notice that your lawn is turning brown in spots due to drought.
When you water your lawn, try to do so early in the day so that your grass has a chance to absorb the water before the heat evaporates it.
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What Kills Brown Patch
Application of fungicide should be done when the fungal patches appear, usually mid to late summer, Reseeding with different grass species, where necessary, can be done by over-seeding over several fall seasons, or, if you want quicker results, eliminate the old turf grasses in spring and reseed immediately.
Weeds Can Cause Brown Spots In Your Lawn
Weeds and grass compete with one another for the same nutrients, the same sunshine, and the same water.
If there are too many weeds in your lawn, then they can ultimately win out over your grass and kill it.
Your lawn can also experience patches of dead grass or bare patches if there has been weed dieback, particularly of annual weeds that die at the end of the season. As patches of weeds die, they can lead to your lawn turning brown in spots in the fall, revealing areas of your lawn which were primarily annual weeds and not turfgrass.
Solution
You can manage bare spots from weed dieback pretty easily. Just spread some grass seed. A patch and repair variety is particularly effective in these scenarios. They tend to grow quickly and have an all-in-one mixture.
Try to choose a product that has perennial grass seed, not annual grass seed or youll be fighting the same issue next year. You can read my guide to fixing a patchy lawn to learn more.
There are a number of ways to deal with weeds depending on what season youre in.
For example, manually pulling weeds or spot treatment with herbicide can be done throughout the year.
Alternatively, you could use a pre-emergent herbicide, such as a weed and feed solution. These can be applied in the spring to block crabgrass and other weeds.
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Keep It Under Control
The good news is that your turf can recover from brown patch. The bad news? You may have to wait until the active growing season to see an improvement in appearance. While a fungicide application can help prevent spread to other areas, spots that have rotted will need to regrow.
Meanwhile, steps should be taken to ensure youre not transferring the fungus to healthy parts of your lawn. Affected areas should not be mowed, as that could cause diseased clippings to deposit elsewhere, spreading the infection. You should also avoid walking over the area so your shoes dont transport the spores. Finally, its important to not apply fertilizer during an outbreak. Sure, youll feed your lawn, but youll also feed the fungus, too.
Because brown or yellow spots can be the result of a number of causes, its important to have your lawn assessed by an experienced landscape professional. If brown patch is confirmed, proper treatment is critical. Self-diagnosis and treatment could make the problem worse. Our teams are experienced in treating brown patch, and can help make the process stress-free. Request a free quote or give us a call at .
Brown Patch Loves Hot Summer
Brown Patch is the most damaging turf grass disease
Brown patch is really a summer lawn disease thats caused by a fungus called Rhizoctonia. The disease begins to show growth when temperatures reach 65°, but the most active growth of brown patch lawn disease occurs at temperatures of 80-85° when humidity levels are very high.
The fungi survive the winter in plant debris and enter the leaf tissue through wounds caused by mowing and through the pores when daytime temperatures get into the 70s. Infected turf grass can go quite a while without showing damage because its actively growing. But, if the daytime temperatures reach the mid 80s and nighttime air temperatures stay above 70°, the grass will be under stress. Then, lawn disease damage can become visible almost immediately.
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How To Fix Dog Urine Spots On Lawns
Sharing your yard with a canine companion can be one of the best parts of having a lawnuntil dog urine lawn spots and other dog damage show up in your carpet of green. By learning how to fix dog urine spots on lawns and prevent other dog-related lawn damage, you and your dog can coexist harmoniously and enjoy a beautiful, lush lawn.
Get your four-legged buddy on board and follow these basics for simple, effective dog urine grass repair:
Does Raking Dead Grass Help It Grow
Raking for New Growth Dead grass should be raked away, but it wont stimulate growth, because if the grass is completely dead all the way to the roots, it cant produce new growth and the bare patch will remain. To fill in the bare spot, youll have to prepare the area for reseeding or laying new sod.
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Quick Answer: How To Repair Brown Spots On Lawn
To repair existing brown spots, rake the affected area to remove the dead grass, then applying Scotts® EZ Seed® Patch & Repair for small areas or Scotts® Turf Builder® Grass Seed for larger areas. With all of these products, be sure to follow label directions.
Hiring The Right Lawn Care Professional To Fix Dead Grass Areas
When it comes to how to repair grass at your home in Allentown, Bethlehem, or Easton, PA, it may be a bit more involved than you had anticipated. As we mentioned, we often hear from homeowners who tell us they thought they could just water the spots or throw fertilizer down, and they could be fixed.
But your best bet is to hire a lawn care service who truly understands the science behind lawns. First and foremost, you want to be sure that your lawn problem is properly diagnosed as time is often of the essence when it comes to the solution.
If youre ready to work with a lawn care company that knows what your grass needs at your Allentown, Bethlehem, or Easton, PA home, get in touch with us to get some free expert advice and learn more about our lawn care program options.
Ready to get started?
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How Do You Prevent Brown Patches
Listed here are a couple of steps you can take to avoid this ailment:
Brown Spots In Grass: Identification And Prevention
Your lawn could have brown spots for a variety of reasonsfungus, excessive thatch, and poor soil quality, to name a few. Well show you how to identify, repair, and prevent brown spots.
No one wants unsightly brown spots taking over their once-green stretch of lush, green lawn. But in order to solve this problem, you have to know exactly what youre dealing with. There are multiple causes of brown spots, from poor soil quality to dog urine and over-fertilization. But dont fret. This Old House will show you how to identify the brown spots in your grass, repair them, and prevent them.
Once youve taken care of your brown spot, This Old House Reviews Team recommends hiring a professional lawn care company to handle all of your lawn care needs to keep your grass hardy and robust. TruGreen offers five annual plans with options like overseeding and aeration that can help you avoid brown spots. To get a free quote, call 866-817-2287 or fill out this easy form.
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Do Care For Repaired Areas Properly
Getting on the right watering schedule for your repaired areas as well as implementing an after-care program will be important steps when it comes to how to turn brown grass green.
Youve gone through the trouble of having your lawn properly repaired, now you want to make sure that it remains an effective solution. New grass can require some extra care in order to grow successfully.
Maintain A Healthy Lawn
The healthier your lawn is to begin with, the easier it will be to prevent brown patches. Take care of your grass by giving it the nutrients and protection it needs to flourish year-round this includes consistent watering, mowing, fertilizing, and weed control.
If youre busy with a job, a family, and a house to take care of, it may be in your best interest to hire a professional local lawn care company to take care of it for you throughout the entire year.
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How Do I Fix Brown Spots In My Lawn
Damage can be repaired at any time, though fall is best. To repair existing brown spots, rake the affected area to remove the dead grass, then applying Scotts® EZ Seed® Patch & Repair for small areas or Scotts® Turf Builder® Grass Seed for larger areas. With all of these products, be sure to follow label directions.
What Causes Brown Patch
What type of grass is most susceptible to brown patch? 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.
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How To Identify The Cause Of Brown Spots In Your Lawn
Brown spots in lawns are frustrating to deal with! Just when you think youve done everything right, suddenly theres a patch of grass thats dead or dying. There are a number of causes of brown spots in lawns, from insects to disease to human error.
To get to the bottom of the situation, youll have to do a little old-fashioned investigating. Heres a checklist to help you determine the cause of brown spots in your yard.
Set Up A Separate Space In Your Yard For A Doggie Bathroom
One of the most effective ways to reduce lawn damage from dog urine is to have a separate area in your yard where your dog can use the bathroom, away from your healthy lawn.
Consider building a mulched or graveled area in your back or side yard and train your dog to use this area as a bathroom through positive reinforcement and praise. Do not use mulch made from cocoa bean hulls since they can be toxic to your dog if ingested.
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Over time, they will get used to this new area, which can be made more hospitable with bright greenery surrounding the perimeter.
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How To Fix Brown Patches + Bare Spots On Grass Lawns
Keeping a natural grass lawn looking its best requires more time and effort than other ground cover options. For some homeowners, having a lush, green, natural lawn is well worth the effort, while others are beginning to move away from conventional grass to lower-maintenance landscaping options.
Those who have chosen to keep their lawns usually have to deal with occasional brown spots or bare patches. Some deal with this common lawn issue more frequently due to one or more of the factors that can affect natural grass lawns, such as:
- Fungi
- Dogs using the lawn as a restroom area
- Dogs or other pets digging up the lawn
When the issue is too much shade, you do not have much choice but to remove the object blocking the sun or pick another ground covering for that area. In some cases, you may have more success if you switch to a grass that requires less sunlight to thrive.
In the case of gophers, voles, grubs or fungi, you will need to treat the problem before you fix the dead spots left behind. If critters are the issue, try these natural ways to ward off gophers and keep them from destroying your lawn. If the issue is grubs or fungi, head to your local garden center to pick up the appropriate treatment.
Once you have treated the area , it is time to repair your lawn.
