Question
Lawn
Hello. I live in MN and my yard which is thick and was sodded 2 years ago has
started to get small dead spots in the back yard. Right now it is mostly on a
half of the backyard. When looking at pictures it appears to resemble dollar
spot. Some of the spots are brown on the outer part of the circles with green
grass starting to grow in the middle of the spots. We do not have a dog nor
do neighbors. We also have 2 large evergreen trees in the backyard which
have begun having their needles turn completely brown beginning at the
bottom of the tree. I wonder if these two problems could be related. Is
catching the clippings and cleaning the mower after use enough to stop this
or do I need to take further action? If it is a fungus problem will it die off
when winter comes? I have also heard that aeration or dethatching may help.
AnswerFrom your picture, Dollar Spot does see, to be a likely culprit. This is thankfully a relatively minor disease that should grow out with proper fertilization.
Sod is primarily Kentucky Bluegrass, which is very susceptible to Dollar Spot. staying on a balanced fertilizer program AND aerating every year to keep thatch under control will help to minimize its occurrence and impact.
As for the problems with the trees, I'm unfortunately not the one to answer that one, but I highly doubt it is caused by the same pathogen. It's probably just two different problems that tend to come out under similar climatic conditions. If the trees continue to go downhill, definitely talk to an arborist.
Good luck!
-C.J. Brown
www.TheLawnCoach.com
