Do you have lawn fungus problems, such as brown patch or Take All Patch Root Rot (TARR)? These diseases usually affect St. Augustine lawns. Brown patch will spread, but it won’t kill your lawn. However, TARR will kill your lawn if left untreated.
One of the main causes for these pathogens is too much water—especially if you water every day and irrigate your lawn at night. Your turf doesn’t stand a chance to develop deep root systems with shallow watering. And a lot of that water will lay on top of your leaf blades overnight which is where fungal diseases start.
As your Flower Mound lawn care company, we recommend that you water your lawn early in the morning and on an infrequent basis. When you irrigate your lawn in the morning, make sure that 4” of water is allowed to soak deep into your soil. If you have an irrigation system, you can set your timer for the amount of water you’ll need, as well as the time that the sprinkler system should go off.
As the day warms up, water will be able to evaporate off the leaf blades and still soak deep down into the soil. Thus, your lawn’s fungal risk goes down dramatically. Both brown patch and TARR need a humid, hot environment to strike.
At Main Street Mowing, we recommend the following nine tips to further protect your lawn from a fungal invasion:
-
Get your lawn aerated to relieve soil compaction.
-
Get your soil tested so you know how much fertilizer your soil actually needs.
-
Avoid using too much nitrogen fertilizer since this can cause fungal diseases.
-
Water deeply on an infrequent basis. Frequent watering, especially at night, causes your turf to be weak and susceptible to brown patch and TARR.
-
Check your lawn on a regular basis to see if it’s showing symptoms of brown patch or TARR.
-
Fix your property’s drainage problems. Poor drainage keeps water from absorbing into the soil and can lead to fungal outbreaks.
-
Get your lawn dethatched. Thatch, the area between the grass line and the soil line contains dead and living stems and root matter. If thatch gets too thick, it holds in water and keeps out oxygen—the perfect recipe for fungi to develop.
-
Use herbicides sparingly. Again, too much herbicide use can end up damaging your turf, making it susceptible to fungal diseases.
-
Make sure that your Flower Mound lawn care company only takes off 1/3 of the leaf blade. And make sure that your Flower Mound lawn care service uses sharp blades every time they mow your lawn.
Do you need a professional lawn mowing company to take care of your Flower Mound, Highland Village, or Lewisville, TX property? Then call us at 214-317-8301 or chat with us Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at https://mainstreetmowing.com.
Sources:
Colbaugh, Phil and James McAfee. “Turfgrass Diseases: Brown Patch and Take-All Root Rot Diseases on St. Augustine Grass Lawns,” http://www.huttotx.gov/DocumentCenter/Home/View/810
Grow Green. “Earth-wise Guide to Lawn Problems,” www.growgreen.org.
Texas A & M AgriLife Extension. “Efficient Use of Water in the Garden and Landscape,” http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/earthkind/drought/efficient-use-of-water-in-the-garden-and-landscape.