06/03/2019
ARE YOU SEEING THIS ON YOUR LAWN??
Disease, also known as brown patch or fungus! It is most damaging to tall fescue, perennial rye-grass, creeping bent-grass and annual bluegrass. Kentucky bluegrass, zoysia grass and other species of grass can be occasionally injured, and southern grasses tend to see injury later in the fall than the summer.
Brown patch often first appears as rough circular patches varying roughly in size from 1-5 feet in size. In the early morning dew, fine strands of grayish cobwebby fungal growth may be evident. This quickly disappears as the dew dries. Individual leaves on the turf die back from the tip and can turn dark green then yellow as they wither and decay.
Anytime the temperatures are above 65 degrees at night there is the potential for disease. In warm season grasses, injury due to brown patch is most severe in humid weather with moderate temperatures (45-70 F). Watering at night or in the evenings only accelerates the problem.
Rainfall and even dew sitting on the grass blades combined with humidity causes a fungi to grow that starts out as brown splotches. If left untreated, brown patch can spread to the rest of the lawn eventually killing it.
