To maintain a beautiful lawn is not an easy thing. You should protect your lawn from various diseases. It is true that most lawn diseases are the result of fungus and fungus can destroy your lawn. Here is some important information about these diseases:
Gray snow mold: It appears under the snow that covers lawns as its name implies. This disease results in brown areas and yellow grass across your lawn and may also show pink or white 'fuzzy-looking' fungus after a good rainfall. To prevent this fungus keep your grass cut to about a 2-inch high level. Also, try to avoid using nitrogen-based fertilizers in late fall or early winter as this can encourage snow mold to grow.
Fairy ring: It is a common lawn disease caused by fungus growth. It results in ring-shaped areas of dark green grass that begin as just a few spots and then spread over your lawn within a few weeks of first appearing. Fairy ring fungus thrives on dead vegetation under the surface of the grass including old tree stumps and thatch.
Brown Patches: It is also the result of lawn fungus and gives your grass a tired, half-dead look quite rapidly when it is present. In just a few days, the grass in infected areas will dry up completely and turn brown in color, hence its name. Due to the over-fertilization that leaves a surplus of nitrogen-based compounds in your lawn, brown patch arouses. It is one excellent reason to follow the fertilizer manufacturer's instructions carefully when fertilizing the lawn.
Dollar Spot: It causes small, round spots to develop on your lawn and is also a fungus infection. It, too, starts with just a few spots and then multiplies greatly in the span of a few weeks. Unlike Brown Patches that thrive on nitrogen-based compounds, Dollar Spot results from an inadequate amount of these compounds, usually as a result of insufficient fertilization.
The Prevention:
It is necessary to apply a commercially available pesticide in cases where fungus lawn diseases are very widespread, the use of a may well be necessary. These are available at nurseries and garden-products retailers and can also be supplied by professional lawn care organizations. The proper pesticide to use depends upon what diseases are predominant on your lawn, but many are effective against almost all fungus infections.
By removing excessive snow pack keep your lawn dry. Also be certain to cut the grass before winter snows so that it stays aerated and does not lock-in moisture. Water your lawn only in the morning so that your lawn has plenty of time to dry out during the day. Prepare the soil by adding a fungus-preventing ingredient before fertilizing in spring or fall and before putting down new sod. Proper mulching can also balance out the soil's nutrients and prevent fungus from appearing.
Follow these lawn care tips and you will find fungus a thing of the past. Never again will you have to worry about your lawn looking diseased in any way.
