Conditions This Bad Not Seen In A Decade!

What a Summer! Drought-like conditions in July followed by rain, rain and more rain in August. Unfortunately, those are perfect conditions for infectious lawn diseases. Honestly, we haven't seen this type of disease-favorable weather in 10 years! Think of it as the "perfect storm" for lawn disease. Diseases like Brown Patch, Dollar Spot, Pythium Blight, Leaf Spot Diseases and the appearance of symptoms of Summer Patch and Necrotic Ring Spot. While temperature and moisture can bring on these diseases, there are other factors that take over once the disease becomes established.

Also, some grasses are more affected than others by lawn disease, but all lawns are affected.

Kentucky Bluegrass

• Less prone to Brown Patch, Dollar Spot, Gray Leaf Spot and Pythium Blight
• Very susceptible to root diseases such as necrotic ring spot and summer patch
• Can tolerate some infection
• During periods like is past summer, infection-impaired plants cannot survive and dead patches or rings appear

Turf Type Tall Fescue

• Susceptible to Gray Leaf Spot and Brown Patch
• Not susceptible to root diseases

Perennial Ryegrass

• Very susceptible to many lawn diseases
• Truly a bad year for perennial ryegrass
• Not susceptible to root diseases

Watering & Lawn Disease

Keep in mind that if you water at the wrong time of day, you could be making a bad situation even worse. The worst time to water is between 6-9pm. Watering at that time only encourages lawn disease. It could mean the difference between a mild symptoms and a severe outbreak. To help prevent lawn disease, think deep infrequent daytime watering, not light frequent watering.

Our Recommendation

The best thing you can do for your lawn now is not to apply fungicides every two weeks, but rather to build up a healthy population of microbes in your soil that will fight the bad guys. Over time, our applications help to do just that.