What You Should Know about Brown Patches on Your Lawn

November 21st, 2017

The weather has cooled down, the sun has lessened its intensity, and yet you still find unsightly brown patches all over your lawn. Brown patches are frustrating problems that can ruin the attractive lawn you’ve worked so hard to cultivate. What problem are you dealing with, and what solution do you need?

A Fungus Called Rhizoctonia

Rhizoctonia is the culprit for the brown patches on your lawn. This fungus survives winter in plant debris, enters the leaf tissue through openings made by mowing, and spreads quickly. It can actually infect your lawn long before you see the signs, so you won’t realize you have a problem you need to solve. However, the high daytime and nighttime temperatures that are so prevalent in Florida place grass under stress. This stress triggers the Rhizoctonia to become visible immediately. Since Rhizoctonia isn’t picky, it preys on all types of grass, especially those receiving large amounts of fast releasing nitrogen fertilizer.

Signs of Brown Patch

It isn’t too tricky to identify brown patches on your lawn, but the Rhizoctonia fungus has a specific appearance you should learn to recognize. The damage begins as circular areas of brown and dead grass. Each circular areas is surrounded by a small ring that isn’t always directly visible but might appear as a smoke ring when dew is present on the grass in the early morning. Most brown patch disease grows from a central point, which causes the circular areas to grow much more rapidly than you’d ever want!

Remember that brown patches aren’t always perfectly circular, either. It’s common for brown patch disease to appear in irregular shapes or even cluster together to make one larger section of brown or dead grass. You will know your turf is dead when it has matted down to create a sunken effect.

What’s the Solution?

The easiest and most direct way to prevent brown patch disease is to hire a professional company to handle the fertilization of your yard. High levels of fast releasing nitrogen trigger this fungus and disease, but without being a lawn pro, you may not realize you’re using the wrong type of nitrogen or applying it improperly.

Green Solutions Lawn Care and Pest Control is located in Tampa, Florida to provide all of the landscaping services that you need. Green Solutions provides a combination of broadleaf weed control, insect management, disease treatment, and fertilizer applications to make your lawn look the best it ever has. Call (813) 684-7336 now for your free consultation!