A Guide to Common Lawn Diseases

Today, lawns cover more than 2% of land in America. The American lawn has come with the American Dream since the 1950’s. Throw in a white picket fence and you’ve achieved what it means to be American.

While many people can own a lawn, they often struggle to keep it. And what good comes from that if yours falls victim to disease almost as soon as you buy it?

This article covers common lawn diseases and what you can do to prevent them. Learn more below!

1. Brown Grass

Brown grass affects cool and warm grass a bit differently. It impacts ryegrass, bluegrass, and fescue in the fall and all types of grass in our seasons’ warmer counterparts.

Essentially, brown grass spreads 3 to 20 feet in diameter (depending on the season), which causes grass blades to die.

Proper lawn care includes minimizing nitrogen exposure.

2. Fairy Ring

This lawn disease refuses to discriminate, as it damages all types of grass. It attacks during the spring and summer.

You know you’ve got fairy ring if you notice circles of dead grass, overly-saturated green grass, or mushrooms. Fairy ring lawn disease control entails the opposite of brown grass’s, in that you want a fertilizer with nitrogen.

3. Rust

Just as with our bicycles, rust can damage our lawns, too! It affects the same types of grass as brown grass does.

Fortunately, we can easily spot rust, as our grass will turn red. Rust also appears on lawn mowers and shoes.

Again, we want nitrogen fertilizers to remedy this. Additionally, we should clip or weed rust-affected areas.

4. Dollar Spot

Unfortunately, this lawn disease fails to give us any dollars. Instead, it gives us yellowish patches that may cause droughts.

Dollar spot affects bluegrass, ryegrass, bermudagrass, centipedegrass, and zoysiagrass. We classify it as one of the fungal diseases in lawns.

5. Dog Spot

Dog spot does have something to do with dogs, unfortunately. Dog spot results from dogs urinating on your lawn. Thus, it affects all species of grass.

If you have a dog who urinates on the lawn and you notice yellow patches, then you’ve likely got dog spot.

Luckily, dogs often pee in the same areas, so you can minimize damage with water. Pour water over the area(s) where your dog pees to dilute the urine and its effects.

Regardless of your lawn’s disease, you can still benefit from professional services like RDS Lawn Care to keep your lawn healthy longer.

Lawn Diseases and Their Effects

Overall, lawn diseases have a variety of effects on a variety of different grasses. That said, you have options to treat them. Whether you decide on home DIY routes or more professional ones, everyone can agree on the importance of lawn care.

Every type of grass can contract some type of disease, so remember to do what’s best for your personal lawn.

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