Lawn Disease
Say Goodbye to Dollar Spots in Your Lawn
Using the proper program for taking care of your lawn, dollar spots should not be a big problem because in most cases, these are merely the result of neglecting your lawn. Dollar spot is considered as a serious disease in lawns for this can affect and even kill the entire grass plant, including their roots. It means that the affected spots in your lawn will often require reseeding. Dollar spots also infect numerous varieties of grasses.
Symptoms of Dollar Spot
As the name suggests, dollar spot is one kind of lawn disease resulting to grey or silver spots that appear on lawns. These spots tend to vary in their diameter, ranging from 1-6 inches, and these can also overlap, forming bigger patches in your diseased lawn.
The fungus which causes the dollar spot will result in grass blades showing tell-tale tan colored legions with brown or red edges and a shape like that of an hour glass.
Causes of Dollar Spot
The main cause of dollar spots is a fungus. This fungus survives during the winter season through taking hold on the plant matter appearing in the thatch layer found in the lawn. This can also inhabit the plant matter in the soil. During winter, the fungus does not grow actively but once the temperatures become warmer, the fungus will then start to grow and spread.
What specific conditions of the environment are then ideal for this fungus to grow and lead to the development of dollar spots
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Lack of moisture in the soil – Dollar spots thrive in those lawns that do not get proper watering. Low moisture content in the soil will make the condition advance and worse.
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Absence of nitrogen – Your lawn needs nitrogen for the leaves to grow and lawns with sufficient levels of nitrogen are more disease resistant and vigorous.
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Plenty of thatch – When there are plenty of thatch, water is prevented from penetrating to thesoil, causing the disease to thrive over the season of winter.
Treatment of Dollar Spots
Just like with all other kinds of lawn diseases, prevention is always better than cure and by following a good program on lawn care, then, this problem should not be a bother to you at all.
One of the main keys to prevent dollar spots is by watering your lawn at proper intervals for this can help in retaining the moisture in the soil. Take note that it is also best that you water thoroughly at intermediate intervals instead of watering sparingly at shorter intervals.
Reduce or remove the layers of thatch to help water better penetrate your lawn and reach into the soil. Make sure that your lawn also has sufficient nitrogen levels through application of the right lawn fertilizer at proper intervals.
For best results, you might want to contact professionals like Perfect Leaf Management who can easily handle the task on your behalf. Let our team deal with your lawn’s dollar spots. Contact us today!
Get Rid of Brown Patch Lawn Disease for Healthier and Greener Lawns
When it becomes too humid and hot, lawn owners like you should keep your eye out for any brown circle that starts forming in your landscape because if not, you will end up having a brown colored lawn, something that is definitely not pleasing to the eyes.
What is Brown Patch?
Brown patch is actually a type of lawn fungus forming brown and circular patterns. This commonly appears when the weather is warm and humid. These circles can also grow to several feet in width and cover a large portion of your lawn. While all lawns can suffer from this brown patch lawn disease, those lawns that have St. Augustine grass have higher vulnerability. Majority of the lawns can recover from this disease once the weather starts to cool when the fall season comes.
What Causes Brown Patch in Your Lawn?
The brown patch lawn disease takes place when there are bad fungi present, when your grass is susceptible and when the weather conditions are perfect for the thriving of the fungi. Small cases of brown patch in the summer are considered normal and should not cause any worry. However, when the case of your lawn is severe, there are several things that can only worsen the brown patch disease:
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Improper watering
Brown patch develops when the lawn surface is wet while the soil remains dry. Watering too lightly but more often than necessary can lead to plenty of brown patches that will develop in your lawn. So, what is the best solution? If you are watering shallowly and too often, you can switch to deeply watering your lawn every 3 to 4 days, preferably one inch of water during every session.
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Heavy thatch
A thick layer of thatch is just the best breeding ground for the brown patch fungi. Aside from becoming a good haven for the fungi, heavy layers of thatch will keep the water up on the soil’s surface, preventing it from penetrating down to the roots that is exactly the condition that will make the dollar spot fungi thrive. If you have heavy thatch in your lawn, the first thing you can do is fertilize organically but make sure that you lessen thatch using liquid aeration and core aeration as this will help better penetration of water to the soil and decrease the thatch.
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Poor grass
There are specific kinds of grasses that are very vulnerable not only to brown patch but also other types of lawn diseases. To remedy the problem, you can try to renovate or super seed on the later part of summer as this can make the grasses tougher and improve your lawn’s appearance while reducing lawn diseases.
Perfect Leaf Management’s team has the expertise of dealing with brown patch lawn disease. We make use of the best strategies to ensure that your lawns will be free from these unwanted patches at the soonest time possible. Contact us today for further details!
Eliminate the Dreaded Red Thread Lawn Disease
As what its name implies, red thread disease causes pinkish or red threads to appear on your lawns. The said threads are actually caused by a certain type of fungus, Corticium fuciforme or Laetisaria fuciformis and these grow on the infected grass blades. These threads can extend to one inch past the grass’s height. Grass is not always killed off by the red thread but the moment the blade has been infected, the grass will die in a couple of days.
It is during autumn and spring seasons when red thread occurs, specifically when the conditions of the climate are suitable for the fungus grown and dispersal.
Effects of Red Thread on Grass and Your Lawn
Initially, the grass infected by red thread will be bleached in color, turning pale cream or white. However, not all blades of grass are going to be infected since the blades that are not infected can exist next to the infected ones. In such cases, the grass is going to look visibly messy. When the conditions are moist, the fungus is going to form pink branching threads. The moment the threads have become well developed, your lawn will have a pinkish or reddish tinge to it in tiny patches, patches that can join together and form bigger patches.
How to Maintain Your Lawn to Prevent the Start of Red Thread
Grasses and lawns that lack nitrogen are more vulnerable to the start of red thread that is why you need to feed your lawn if needed.
To help in the aeration and drainage of your lawn, make use that you aerate with the use of hollow spike lawn aerator when autumn comes. You can also use a spring tine rake or lawn scarifier for removing thatch layers which can suffocate living grasses. See to it that your lawn is also properly drained to prevent high levels of moisture that can cause the fungi to thrive. Examine those shadows casted by shrubs and trees and see if these contribute to the damp conditions of your lawn. If they are, you might want to consider thinning the tree branches or removing any offending plant so that more sunlight will be able to pass through.
How to Prevent Red Thread from Spreading
Red thread can serve as transportation of the infected blades of grass as well as the threads themselves, which will then cause the infection to spread to the lawn areas that are not infected. The infected grass and threads can be transported through different actions that include walking on the grass, using lawn mower, high winds and others. You can try to separately mow the area infected from the other parts of the lawn and burn the grass clippings that you have collected from the area that is infected.
For effective results, you may want to call us at Perfect Leaf Management. As your number one lawn care provider, we make sure that all lawn diseases including red threads will be solved in no time at all.
Core aeration
Don’t Let Your Lawns be Ruined by Rust
Rust is one kind of lawn disease caused by Puccinia spp. Fungus. Rust can affect different kinds of turf grasses and this can cause damages most commonly during the months of fall and summer.
How to Identify Rust
Rust is actually a lawn disease that you can easily identify. Initially, this will cause light yellow flecks on the sheaths and blades of grass. These flecks will then elongate and enlarge over time, turning to a yellow color. The spots will then rupture and release pores that have colors of yellowish orange to reddish brown, which is why the disease is named as rust.
A severe infection of the disease can also cause the whole grass shoot to become yellowish to reddish brown in hue, slowly growing in your lawn.
The turf may appear thin as the individual shoots start to die. When the cycle of the rust disease comes to an end, the leaves will then turn shredded, pointing downward when the infection has been severe. Also, the plants that have been infected by this disease become more vulnerable to infections caused by other kinds of turfgrass diseases.
When Does Rust Infection Take Place?
Rust can cause an infection in lawns only if all of the listed conditions are present:
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Host – bluegrasses, Bermuda grass, zoysiagrass, ryegrasses or fescues.
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Pathogen – rust or puccinia spp.
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Environment – Moist climatic conditions with temperatures that range from 65 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit as well as low nitrogen in soils.
How to Control Rust
Cultural control practices of the disease can create a favorable condition for your lawn to be health and sometimes create an unfavorable condition for rust development. You cannot change the conditions of the environment but the cultural practices that you perform can actually be modified in order to reduce the chances of suffering from extensive damages as caused by rust. Perfect Leaf Management will be able to help you in determining the right plan to prevent and control rust in your lawns.
For proper treatment and control of rust, the following tips on cultural control can be followed:
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Reduce layers of thatch using core aeration.
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Use fertilizers with the right amount of nitrogen.
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Avoid watering during nighttime.
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Improve circulation of air and reduce shade.
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Water infrequently and deeply for growth to be increased.
Let Experts Handle Your Fairy Ring Problem
Fairy ring might have a cute name to it but this is definitely not a good thing for lawn owners. In fact, fairy ring is one kind of lawn disease caused by certain kinds of fungus. Its appearance and effect can vary and this will depend on the specific kind of fungus that causes the problem but in generally, they form one or even more of these following conditions:
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One or more rings of grass that are deep green and lush looking.
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A ring of toadstools on your lawn when the moisture is sufficient.
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Areas of yellowed or dead grass or bare soil in between lush rings.
There are some who find the appearance of toadstool fairy rings pretty and attractive particularly in grassy woodland environments. However, these can cause serious issues on formal lawns where the effects of bare patches, uneven grass growth and coloring and dead grass can have a significant impact on the appearance of the lawns.
Fairy Ring Causes
Fairy rings are actually the result of certain kinds of fungi that form fungal threads in the soil where the turf has been laid on. Marasmius Oreades is the fungus that most commonly causes the development of fairy rings. The threads that can be formed are extremely densely packed, normally reaching down to the depths of the soil at around 20 cm even though these are also known to reach as much as 40 cm. These tightly packed threads on your lawn can starve the roots of the grass of both nutrients and water as this can inhibit the growth of roots and prevent uptake of water. The resulting insufficiency of water can kill any grass in the badly affected spots of the lawn, leading to the appearance of brown or yellow patches. The bare soil patches may appear on your lawn where grass has long been dead.
Treatment for Fairy Rings
The moment fairy rings formed on your lawn, removing them can prove to be a difficult task. If you like to try and prevent the condition from spreading, you can start by carefully cutting any of those toadstools off at the base and put them inside a container. After collecting, make sure that you burn them. Never put these on compost heap or redistribute these over the soil or lawn as these have spores that can further promote fungi growth. The best way of destroying spores is by burning the toadstools.
One more tip to prevent the fairy ring from spreading is by mowing the area infected by the fungi independently from the other areas of your lawn. See to it that you separately collect grass clippings and burn them again instead of putting them in compost heap as these also have fungal spores.
Getting rid of these fairy rings can be tricky and if you do not want to do the job on your own, you can always call Perfect Leaf Management and we guarantee you that we can deal with the problem in the most professional way possible.
Slime Mold – Prevent the Black Substance from Destroying Your Lawn
Have you noticed some dark stuff in your lawn? If yes, then, you know that you are dealing with slime mold. Slime mold has numerous varieties. This black substance on your lawn is actually a beneficial primitive organism. This can creep along the leaf blades and eat bacteria, dead organic matter, and even other kinds of molds.
The slime mold on your grass does not really cause damages on your turf but if the appearance is the problem, you can always remove it. Some of you might think that the mold must be killed right away so that you can protect your grass’s health. But, you have to know that treatments are really not that effective and in fact, this organism is definitely better off when left undisturbed.
What is a Slime Mold?
While you will often see a black substance on your lawns when the conditions are moist and warm, the slime mold can actually come in various colors. Its individual spores can come in hues of pink, red, orange, blue or cream. Once the spores have gathered together, the appearance becomes quite dark in appearance although this can also appear whitish.
The spores of slime mold deposit on the grass once the wind drives them. Once there is a presence of moisture, the spores can bloom and reproduce that creates patches of up to 6 inches in diameter.
Slime Mold’s Lifecycle
The spores of the mold may stat viable for several years until the right conditions occur. The slime molds can also come and go once the moisture lessens or when the temperatures become too cold or too hot. Once the right amount of moisture comes back, chances are you will once again find slime mold in similar areas in your lawn.
Heavy rains can obliterate the patches but it can also spread the mold spores. The ideal conditions for the forming of slime molds on the grass are when there are lots of thick thatch or organic material, when the soil is moderately moist, warm days and cool nights that promote dew formation and when temperatures are around 50-80 degrees Fahrenheit.
Treatment of Slime Mold
Since this is not completely a disease of the turf grass, slime mold is actually good for lawns. The only disadvantage to the spores is that these can have a negative effect on your lawn’s aesthetics. If you are offended by the presence of colorful patches, you can just rake this up off the grass blades. Also, you can wipe them off using a broom or simply mow over the blades that are afflicted by the mold.
While the mold can still come back if the conditions are right, this is easy to remove even though repetitious. It is not recommended to treat the slime mold using fungicide and there is also no chemical available for controlling the spores.
If you do not want to deal with these stuffs on your own, you can always contact Perfect Leaf Management and we will take care of things for you.