Understanding More About Common Lawn Diseases in San Antonio, TX

If you maintain your lawn with regularity or hire the services of lawn maintenance experts, the lawns on your property won’t get affected by lawn diseases very often. This is because the professionals will treat the lawns with specialized fertilizers and pest control solutions. If they notice anything out of the ordinary and feel that the grass is impacted in any way, they will immediately address the problem and make sure the disease doesn’t spread.

Lawn diseases in San Antonio area aren’t a norm, but there are times when there could be an outbreak after an extended period of humidity and heat; however for the most part, lawns will stay relatively disease-free as long they are maintained well. Lawns on golf courses and sports fields are more prone to developing diseases because they are conditioned extensively and see a high level of traffic too.

Like all other living things, your lawn can also contract a disease. Leaving the problem unaddressed can cause the disease to spread. This is especially true if the conditions are right or if the lawns are stressed and some diseases can cause a significant amount of destruction. Most lawn diseases in San Antonio area occur during summertime when the weather is extremely hot and humid and sometimes even the healthiest of lawns might struggle to thrive.

If you have noticed either a dead or dying patch on your turf, it’s important that you determine whether it’s a disease. Identifying lawn diseases also gives you some idea about what is actually causing it and whether there is anything that can be done about it. There are many diseases that can quickly creep up on lawns if the grass isn’t maintained well and if the proper conditions are present. Here we take a look at some of the most common lawn diseases:

Common Lawn Diseases

1. Brown Patch

This is generally found in tall ryegrass and fescue grass; the brown patches tend to affect numerous cool season grasses as well as certain species of warm season grasses too. This is caused by a fungus species called Rhizoctonia. Kentucky bluegrass as well as various fine fescues can also occasionally be affected; however, the damage is generally minimal in these particular species.

The warm season grasses that brown patch can affect include St. Augustinegrass and Zoysiagrass. This is actually a foliar disease, which means it impacts the grass blades but doesn’t spread to either the root system or the crown of the plant. If you see circular patches on the lawn that are yellow to brown in color (6”- several feet in diameter), it could mean your lawn is suffering from brown patch. Brown patch creates distinctive “smoke rings” that can sometimes be visible along the grass’ outer edges.

2. Dollar Spot

This is another common lawn disease, and it gets its name from the very distinctive pattern (the size of a silver dollar), that form in the lawns. These patches can occur whenever moisture is present in spring and fall, during the cool night- warm day patterns. Poor drainage, excessive thatch and low soil fertility provide ideal conditions for dollar spots to develop. It also thrives in conditions of moist air and dry soils. When the roots are very low on water and grass blades are wet from irrigation, dew or rain, the outbreaks of this particular lawn disease increase. Dollar Spot is at its worst in any season marked by low rainfall, high humidity, and temperatures between 60 °F and 80 °F

3. Powdery Mildew

This disease is often found on Kentucky bluegrass lawns that are situated in shaded areas with very limited air movement. It makes the grass seem like it’s covered with a fine white dust. This disease can cause the grass to yellow over time, but it doesn’t really cause any widespread damage to your lawns. If the area experiences cloudy weather for extended periods of time that too can bring on this disease.

However, there are times when the problem isn’t weather-related and you will have to alter the surrounding conditions to grow healthy lawns. Shade-tolerant grass species don’t generally attract powdery mildew and you can improve sunlight and air circulation to the area by trimming and thinning the trees that grow there.

3. Fairy Ring

This disease presents itself as partial circles or dark circles on the lawn; in some cases, the fairy rings may also have mushrooms growing in them. Some people maintain that they simply dig out the fairy rings and that stops the spread of the disease. But the fact is that the spores from this fungal infection spread very far and digging up the rings cannot solve the problem. You can try to blend in the dark color by maintaining a green and lush lawn and the presence of mushrooms can be curtailed by regular mowing.

4. Snow Mold

Extended snow cover on the lawns in the spring can result in the growth of pink snow mold and snow mold; this is especially true if the ground isn’t quite frozen. This disease can also affect excessively fertilized lawns and areas under leaves that have been left over from the fall. The damage that snow mold causes is temporary and largely superficial. The best method of dealing with it is to rake the area out. It helps in drying the grass and soil which helps the new growth to begin and the damage will vanish.

Red Thread

This is quite a common lawn disease; fortunately, it is quite harmless too. Red thread generally appears when lawns are due for fertilizing. If you notice red thread on the grass, it’s time to fertilize your lawn. This disease is quite distinctive as you can’t miss the red hairs in the turf which gives the lawn a red/pinkish appearance from a distance. This disease is also known as Pink Patch and is a grass fungal disease that tends to become more severe in the humid and cool conditions. It affects nitrogen-deficient and slow-growing turf grass such as Bermuda grass, perennial ryegrass, blue grasses, bentgrass and fescues.

Rust

This disease derives its name from the rusty or orange appearance the affected blades of grass get. It most commonly affects Kentucky Bluegrass and ryegrasses. This disease thrives in conditions such as high soil compaction, shade, morning dew as well as low fertility. You can check for rust problems by taking a paper towel or white tissue and rubbing some of the grass blades through it. If you notice that the orange color stays on the grass, it’s usually rust.

Grease Spot

Grease Spot is also known as Pythium blight, root rot, spot blight, and snow blight, cottony blight. Each of these names describes a different phase of this disease’s life-cycle and all of them affect the grass in different ways. The first signs of this disease are generally small patches of grass that look dark or purplish in color and seem like they are water-soaked.

When you handle the blades of grass in these patches, you will find they have a very slimy or greasy feel to them and that’s where the name is derived from. These infected grass blades eventually become light tan in color and shrivel and that’s what gives it the name -spot blight. If too many of these infected areas start appearing on the lawn, they begin growing together and eventually overlap.

These infections are typically concentrated in wet, low areas or even along the natural course of drains across the turf. When the humidity levels are consistently high, the collapsed and shriveled leaves become matted and are covered with a very fluffy mass of mycelium (white fungal threads).

Fusarium Blight (Summer Patch)

Fusarium Blight or Necrotic Ring Spot, is a highly destructive soil bound disease that can affect lawn spaces. It is most damaging and noticeable during the summer months when the weather is extremely hot and dry. Because this disease prefers hot and dry conditions, it often first occurs near driveways, pathways and sidewalks and other areas with direct sunlight.

Fusarium Blight usually starts out as small patches of dead turf (6”-1’ in diameter). The more mature grass may have some healthy green grass growing at the center of the impacted area resulting in the distinctive frog eye appearance. These patches continue to spread across the entire lawn destroying large areas, if left untreated. Bringing the disease under control will require multiple fungicide treatments.

Leaf spot-Melting Out

Leaf spot and melting-out diseases first invade the blades of grass, producing small brown spots. Slowly, as this disease worsens, the brown spots on the blades of grass start to expand and they produce an oval, dark purplish-red border around a tan-colored center. These spots eventually enlarge until the full width of the grass blade is blighted.

All cool-season grass species have a leaf spot or melting-out disease associated with them; however, Kentucky bluegrass is particularly prone to being affected by it. These organisms, under native grassland and pasture conditions, cause leaf spots that are of little consequence. However, when the grass is mowed to a certain height, as in the case of commercial and residential lawns, the nitrogen levels increase and leaf spot diseases have the potential to become so severe that they can cause loss of the entire lawn.

Gray leaf spot

Augustine grass gets affected by this disease; the initial symptoms are dark brown, leaf spots that slowly enlarge over time into lesions that are oblong to irregularly-shaped; these lesions can have dark brown -purple margins with dark tan centers. Blighted grass tips often appear hook shaped and twisted and they sometimes exhibit a grayish, felt-like appearance caused by massive amounts of the spores covering the grass blade tissue. Grey leaf spot is generally observed between late spring and summer. Damage caused by gray leaf spot is often confused with a drought-stressed turf.

Prevention is the best cure

Lawn diseases can be extremely difficult to control, even more difficult to identify. The best cure as in the case of any plant disease is a bit of prevention. It’s also important that you be a little aware of all these common diseases and their symptoms; early detection can go a long way in preventing the spread of the disease.

Sometimes, even the healthiest of lawns can get affected by lawn disease and some of these are very difficult to spot and identify, especially in the early stages of growth. It’s always a good idea to hire experienced lawn care professionals to maintain your lawn. In DNS Landscaping we have the knowledge and exposure to be able to quickly identify when there is a problem with the lawn. If we notice the start of any lawn disease, we would use special fungicides and other solutions to treat the disease before it gets out of control.

If you want to know more about Lawn Diseases or any other Landscaping service, feel free to call us on 210 765-8667. You can also fill in the contact us form or email us at nadia@dnslandscaping.net