What Is Dollar Spot In Lawns

Get Rid Of Spots Not Dollars

If your lawn is struggling with dollar spot, its important to tackle the problem as soon as possible.

With a little time and care, your yard should recover from the lawn disease, but dont let it go until its too late. Reviving or replacing a yard damaged by dollar spot will only get more expensive with time.

If you need help handling a case of dollar spot infection or preventing dollar spot from coming back or just regular mowing, trimming, and edging just call one of our lawn care professionals.

Main photo credit: Scot Nelson / Flickr / Public domain

If Dollar Spot Disease Is Affecting Your Lawn You Will Notice:

• Straw-colored spots about the size of a silver dollar on closely mowed turf.
• Grass in affected areas may die and the spots may merge to form larger, irregular patches.
• In coarse-textured grass that is cut high, the dead spots are larger.
• Leaf blades that have light tan spots with reddish-brown margins.
• Early in the morning, you may be able to see a cobweb-like growth of the fungus over the infected area.

If you see these dollar spot symptoms on your property, Fairway Lawns can help! Extensive treatment with a fungicide may be necessary for dollar spot control and our lawn care experts can inspect your yard and determine the right course of action. If thatch is more than a half-inch, the lawn should be dethatched to remove excess. Whether fungicide treatment or dethatching is necessary, we can help restore your yard to its former glory!

When Is Dollar Spot Most Prominent

Dollar spot is especially active during hot, humid weather and when leaf blades are wet for prolonged periods of time. A stressed lawn is more susceptible to the disease than a properly maintained lawn. When dollar spot infects a lawn thats stressed due to soil compaction, heavy thatch, improper fertilization or insect damage, a fungicide wont solve the problem.

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What Is Dollar Spot Lawn Disease

Dollar spot, a lawn disease that affects a wide range of turfgrasses throughout most of the year, is a particularly insidious lawn fungus that can make your beloved turf look like an unsightly patchwork. Here’s what you need to know about dollar spot, and how a TruGreen®-certified specialist can help you regain a lawn you’ll love

Overseed Your Lawn With Shade Tolerant Grass Seed

Scarifying and aerating your lawn are invasive treatments which your lawn will need to recover from.

To help aid quick recovery, overseed your lawn with new grass seed.

If your lawn resides in shade, its vitally important to use a grass seed blend that is shade tolerant. If you use the wrong type of grass seed, youll likely see Dollar Spot develop again.

So use a grass seed mix that is designed for shady areas.

See my article, Best Grass Seed for my recommendations on the best grass seed for shaded lawns.

Also Check: How To Kill Quackgrass In Your Lawn

How To Identify Dollar Spot Disease

The first step in preventing the dollar spot disease cycle is identifying it. The obvious way to identify this fungus is to look for the individual brown spots on your lawn. If you catch the fungus at this stage, it means you have caught it earlier.

If you catch it even earlier, you may notice an hourglass shape band across the width of an individual blade of grass. This band is typically a light brown or red color.

Lawn Care Tips What Causes Dollar Spot And How To Control It From Overcoming Your Lawn

Infection by dollar spot appears as tan or straw-colored spots ranging in size from a quarter to that of a silver dollar sunken in the turf , which is how it gets its name. Occasionally, small cottony strings of the fungus can be seen growing from the diseased leaf blades. The fungus can spread if you walk on it and then walk to another part of your lawn, making dollar spot a serious problem if left untreated. Dollar spot can be more serious than it may first appear because the lawn disease kills the entire grass plant, often requiring reseeding.

Causes of Dollar Spot

• Poor Watering If you are not watering correctly, you may be weakening your thatch and creating a lovely breeding ground for dollar spot. If you water too much and the water does not go deep enough, it ends up creating an environment where the lawn is wet but the soil and the roots of the grass are dry. Dollar spot thrives in this type of setting.
• Grass Health Grass health is also an important part of improving dollar spot. Keeping your lawn in tiptop shape by watering it adequately, fertilizing it, and making sure it is kept at the proper height will keep your grass healthy, and healthy grass is much less prone to lawn diseases like dollar spot.
• Grass Type While a bit more difficult to cure, some types of grass are more prone to dollar spot than others. So if your area has been extremely prone to dollar spot it may be worth considering a different type of grass that is more resistant to the disease.

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How Is Dollar Spot Diagnosed

To determine the presence of dollar spot, inspect an individual blade of grass from a healthy looking part of the lawn. Then select a blade from an area just outside of a dead-looking patch of grass. Inspect the individual grass blades for a white lesion or spot that is pinched in the middle and looks like an hourglass. The lesion often occurs in the mid-section of the leaf blade and may have a purple margin. This bleached, hourglass-shaped lesion is characteristic of dollar spot.

What Can I Do To Control And Prevent Dollar Spot Lawn Disease

Preventing Dollar Spot outbreaks can be much more effective than fighting the disease once it appears in your yard. For effective lawn disease control of Dollar Spot:

Water deeply, but infrequently. During times when the climate conditions promote the growth of Dollar Spot, be sure to water intermittently, but leave the sprinkler on for at least a couple of hours to simulate a deep, drenching rainfall.

Also Check: How Much Water Does My Lawn Need In Summer

How Do You Treat Dollar Spot Disease

While the best dollar spot disease control method is preventing it in the first place, if you already have it, then itâs important to know how to treat it. The best way to start treating this disease is to address some of the causes we mentioned above.

• Water Less Frequently: Water your lawn less frequently and do it earlier in the day. Too much water too late in the day creates boggy ground, doesnât give the water time to evaporate throughout the day or be absorbed by the plant, and makes a fungus-friendly, humid environment.
• Fertilize Your Lawn: Using a good quality fertilizer and applying it correctly will give your lawn the nutrients it needs to grow and to defend itself from fungus. Healthy grass is less likely to be affected in the first place and will also more easily bounce back after you get rid of a fungal infection.
• Donât Mow Too Close: Adjust the cutting height on your mower to between three and four inches for most grasses. The only grass that can be cut much shorter is zoysiagrass. Donât ever cut off more than one-third of the length of your grass at once.
• Hire Experts: The best, most effective way to treat dollar spot fungus is to hire professionals who know how to deal with this properly. Our team at Earth Development understands how to maintain a healthy lawn and to use a fungicide that kills the fungal infection but doesnât hurt your lawn.

Preventing Brown Patch Lawn Disease And Dollar Spot Lawn Disease

Because lawn disease can take over quickly, the best action truly is prevention. So often these diseases are already spreading even before they are on the homeowners radar. Thats why good lawn care habits are important.

For one, it is recommended that you water early in the morning which gives the sun time to dry your lawn out. When you water in the evening hours, that water sits on the lawn and creates a habitat that can breed fungal growth.

As we mentioned, mowing habits are also really important to a lawns health. You want to make sure that you are mowing with sharp, clean blades so that you prevent spreading disease. If you are using a professional mowing service, make sure that they are cleaning their mower deck so that they arent bringing a disease from one property to another.

It is also beneficial to implement preventative care. At Master Lawn, our Gold Program includes preventative turf disease treatments.

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Dollar Spot Vs Brown Patch: Comparing 2 Lawn Diseases In Memphis

Few things are more frustrating than finding patches of discoloration on a lawn that seemed to be healthy one dayand appeared to turn overnight. Unfortunately, lawn diseases in Memphis tend to show up that way. Like a sneaky villain, they creep into a healthy lawn and quickly wreak their havoc.

Thats why its important to get these types of problems under control quickly.

First and foremost, you must make the proper diagnosis. There are many lawn diseases in Memphis, many of which are caused by lawn fungus. Two of the ones that we see most often are Dollar Spot lawn disease and Brown Patch lawn disease.

In this article, well compare these two common lawn diseases, including what you can look for and how you can deal with them. Although they both have their own identifying characteristics, we do find that homeowners mix them up. Thats to be expected as you certainly shouldnt have to get a degree in agronomy to be able to have a healthy lawn . Well help provide some education that will give you a better sense of what you might be dealing with and how to address it.

Dollar Spot On Turfgrass

Dollar spot occurs on essentially all cultivated turfgrass species worldwide. In Ohio, it is primarily a concern on creeping bentgrass on golf courses and may be prevalent on bluegrass lawns. Dollar spot occurs from late spring to late fall and is most prominent after cool, moist weather.

Causal Organism

Dollar spot is caused by the fungus Sclerotinia homoeocarpa. This fungus produces resting bodies called stomata, which may live for long periods on grass clippings, in thatch, or in soil. The taxonomic classification of this fungus is currently under revision. Temperatures between 60 and 85 degrees F and long periods of leaf wetness from dew, rain, or sprinkler irrigation favor growth of this fungus. Prolonged wet foliage is a key factor. Growth of the dollar spot fungus is inhibited when temperatures exceed 90 degrees F. Turfgrass growing under dry soil conditions is more susceptible than when adequate soil moisture is provided. Damage is usually more severe if there is a deficiency of nitrogen.

Symptoms

Management

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Why Do You Have Dollar Spot

A little bit of Dollar Spot during the Summer is normal and nothing to worry about. If you have a severe case, here are some issues that will make dollar spot worse:

IMPROPER WATERINGDollar Spot Disease occurs when the surface of the lawn stays wet and the soil is dry. Watering too often and too lightly will result in a lot of Dollar Spot. Our suggested solution is to switch to watering deeply every 3-4 days, roughly one inch of water per session.

HEAVY THATCHA thick thatch layer is the perfect breeding ground for Dollar Spot fungi. In addition to providing a good home for the fungus, a heavy thatch layer keeps water on the surface of the soil and prevents it from reaching the roots. These are exactly the conditions that cause the Dollar Spot fungi to thrive. As a good start, we recommend fertilizing organically. Ultimately however, you need to reduce thatch. Core Aeration and Liquid Aeration help water to penetrate the soil and lessen the amount of thatch you have. You can also try Organic Compost Topdressing in the Fall, which will provide good biology that can both decompose thatch and fight off the fungi that cause Dollar Spot Disease to form. Contact us for details on which services would be best for you.

What Grass Types Are Most Susceptible To Dollar Spot

All varieties of warm-season and cool-season grass are prone to dollar spot, and many cool-season grasses are particularly at risk for this disease. Choosing a resistant grass cultivar is particularly important for dollar spot prevention.

Bentgrass and Kentucky bluegrass are most likely to have issues with dollar spot. For warm-season grasses, bermudagrass, Zoysia, and seashore paspalum are particularly at risk. Perennial ryegrass and tall fescue are more resistant to dollar spot than other grasses.

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What Causes Dollar Spot

Dollar spot is very common, and can be caused by many factors. These characteristics can leave a lawn prone to the disease:

• Drought stress
• Low mowing
• Excessive thatch
• Cool nights above 50 degrees with lots of moisture, such as heavy dew, high humidity, and rainy and overcast weather. Longer periods of dew will intensify dollar spot infection.
• Nutrient-deficient soils, particularly dry soils or those with low nitrogen

Once its there, dollar spot can also be spread throughout your yard by lawn mowers, wind, and water.

Dollar Spot Lawn Fungus Treatment

When it comes to Dollar Spot treatment, we have good and bad news. The good news is that Dollar Spot, a lawn disease that affects most turfgrasses, is easy to identify. The bad news is its easier to prevent than fight the disease.

Weve got what you need to know about dollar spot, including preventative tips and information on how a TruGreen®-certified specialist can help you regain a lawn youll love if youve been invaded by the dollar spot lawn fungus disease.

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Our Experts Maintain And Protect Your Company Lawn

We know that managing a lawn can be tough â and preventing and treating lawn disease is even tougher.

At Earth Development, our team of landscapers understand exactly how to treat all lawn types, and keep your property looking fantastic all year round.

To find out more or for a free quote, call the Earth Development team today at 475-2807.

What Is Dollar Spot

Dollar spot is a lawn disease marked by brown spots in your yard not a new rival to your favorite dollar store.

But what is dollar spot? How can you tell if you have dollar spot? And what can you do to get rid of it? Well cover all that and more in this article. A little change in your watering methods may be all you need to turn those brown spots green.

• FAQ About Dollar Spot

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Ner With A Pro For Peace Of Mind

We know that lawn disease can be a stressful topic. It can feel like youre doing everything right and yet lawn fungus can still wreak havoc. Thats why it can be so beneficial to partner with a professional.

Not only should a professional be on the lookout for early signs of a lawn disease but theyll also be able to take proactive measures to help prevent some of these problems in the first place.

At Master Lawn, we value having a partnership with our clients. As weve said, we welcome clients reaching out to us in between lawn care visits at the first sign of trouble. The last thing that we ever want is for homeowners to lose their lawn to a disease. Were here to help make sure that doesnt happen.

Ready to have a lush green lawn, free from disease, at your Memphis, TN home? Talk to a lawn care expert, choose from 3 program options, and become the master of your lawn.

What Is Dollar Spot Disease

Dollar Spot Disease isnt very prevalent in the UK. That being said, it is becoming more common.

Its a fungal disease which mainly affects ornamental lawns made up of fescue grasses. Creeping Red Fescue is most prone to an attack and more and more suppliers include it in their grass seed mixtures.

It can also affect bent grasses and Annual Meadow Grass.

This is why its becoming more common.

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What Causes It To Develop

Dollar Spot is caused by a fungus called Sclerotinia homeocarpa, which lives in most turfs.

During the Winter it lies dormant in the soil and thatch layer. Then when conditions are right, the fungal spores become active which encourages the disease to develop.

Dollar Spot occurs in periods of hot days with high humidity followed by cool nights. Usually in the Summer and Autumn.

Any situation that causes your lawn to stay damp for long periods of time will contribute to the development of Dollar Spot Disease.

These include

• Excess lawn thatch
• Soil Compaction

Low Nitrogen levels in the lawn and cutting the grass too short during hot weather will often stress the grass which can increase the chances and the severity of an attack.