Question
Hi there,  we just had our lawn sodded in April of 09.  I had one company maintaining it for me and all I was doing was watering and mowing it.  well after 2 months I noticed brown patches, small areas of the grass and root dying.  Called the company who was maintaining it and they said I had a FUNGUS problem.  He treated it for 3 weeks with some kind of fungicide stuff and it actually got worse.  So I called a different company to come and look at my lawn to see what was going on and the new company said that I have a chinch bug problem.  Which was what I thought was going on.  So I canceled with the first company and went with the new people I called and they treated for chinch bugs and applied fertilizer to enhance growth in the lawn.  It looked great about 10 days later.  The dark green / blue color came back, the spots started filling in, I was happy.  Well 2 weeks ago the brown spots started coming back again and alot more of them.  Big mushrooms all over the lawn and more areas of grass and root dying out.  I dont know what to think of this lawn anymore.  Im really frustrated.  If you have any suggestions we would really appreciate it.

Answer
Big mushrooms indicate that conditions are good for fungi. Brown patches and mushrooms point to a fungus attack. Chemical applications will not eradicate a fungus; they only suppress them. Cutting back on the amount of watering or timing the irrigation so that the grass blades dry completely before the sun goes down, will help tremendously in controlling fungus diseases. Diagnosing a lawn problem is an interesting and mind absorbing exercise. It involves eliminating the causes one by one. Insects are easiest to eliminate; soap flush the lawn in a few of the right places and identify harmful insects. If they exceed a certain treshold, treat with an appropriate insectide. If insects are not the problem, check the irrigation system for output and coverage. If this is eliminated, consider environmental factors; recent heat wave? Heavy rainfall? Oil or other spill? If all of these are eliminated then fungus and nematodes remain. These are difficult because they usually require 'expert' examination of the turf or soil. Your least expensive option is the County Extension Office. Call them to find out if you can take in a chunk of sod for examination. If yes, then remove a neat square of sod which displays the worrisome signs. Cut out the sod deeply and cleanly so that it holds together. And if you can, take it in promptly and have it examined quickly, then you can return it to the original spot, stamp it down and water it in. It will fill in neatly. Do not get frustrated. Think of it as 'CSI' lawns.