Question
QUESTION: Hello,
 I have a question that I hope you can help with.  I moved to a new area in Middle Tennessee.  I started by doing a soil test which recommended lime.  I tilled soil very deep with lime added and seeded 2 years ago.  Quack grass took over and I lost it all.  I seeded again in the fall with the same and also put down more fert, lime and pre emergents in the spring.  My lawn now is like a carpet, beautiful, but I am still getting quack grass here and there.  I water my my lawn daily, bag all clippings, and mow at 4 inches.  Here is my problem, on a daily basis in the afternoon, i get black areas spreading across my lawn.  After I add water it goes away, or in the evenings.  But it is getting worse.  I don't like watering in the afternoon but have to to get rid of the blackish areas.  Watering in the morning for a half hour and again at noon doesn't seem to be enough.  Is the blackis tint to the lawn due to heat stress? Can I add something or delete something? And the biggest question is the heat tollerant blue is supposed to hold up to that kind of stress.  Basically in the mornings I have a perfect striped lawn that the neighborhood adores but in the afternoon it has a blackish tint to the top of it.  Anything you can do to help would be great.  I am losing sleep over this.  Thank you.
Dan, Murfreesboro Tn

ANSWER: Dan, I'd like to figure this out, too -- there are a few possibilities, but I have to rely on your description because I don't have a picture to look at.  So bear with me here.

You see 'black areas spreading' across the Lawn -- do you mean that these areas are beginning in one part (all the time) and appearing gradually over the rest of the Lawn?  Or do you look outside and see this very suddenly?

When you look very closely at a blade of Grass, how does this 'black' appear on the Grass?  Is there any slime?  Is this a dark brown or black color somewhere on the blade?  Is it a sooty sort of dust?  Any other colors?

What shape(s) are the regions that are affected?  Do they get Full Sun all day?  How big are they -- spots, large areas the size of a garbage can or larger, several feet wide?

I would like to say the evidence points to a Fungus.  But this is not something you would see developing in the afternoon.  Or go away, on its own, at night.

What do you mean by 'it is getting worse'?

How's the weather been?  Any rain?  What 'stress' is the Grass under -- it sounds like the weather has been hot, but would you confirm that, and how hot is it?  What kind of Grass are you growing with your Quackgrass?

Regarding the Quackgrass, this is one miserable weed.  But we'll deal with that later.  Keep up the good Quackgrass Battle.  Nice work with the Soil Testing.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for the quick response.  I will try to give you some more information.  The grass blades that are affected seem to be a charcaol color.  It appears the top 1/3 of the grass blade only.  Sometimes it appears in long strips acroos the lawn and others in rings about the size of a garbage can lid that you mentioned.  There is no spots or individual rings on the blades itself, and it is 90% the same area every day.  But again, about 6 in the evening if I put water on it it dissappears by morning and is beautiful again.  
It doesn't seem to spread and it does happen in these areas suddenly, almost instantly, all at once.
 There is no slime on it.  I did apply a fungicide as well thinking it was that for I did notice I was getting dollar spot.  The fungicide cleared that but did nothing with the charcoal spots.  The blades also feel very dry, almost as if starving for moisture, and the watering clears it up.  
 By getting worse I mean that each day it seems to get more noticeable or darker, but again, after water and evening sets in, its totally gone.
 I have the Scotts thermo blue grass and the quack grass is taking it over.  I am amazed that after seeding last fall and through the spring it was the most beautiful green color and full lawn I have ever seen but the quack grass which is a lighter green slowly started closest to the road and is all over it now.  I am thinking that it is only May and hot part of summer isn't even here yet. Going at this rate, I will lose my lawn entirely.  I did everything right, I sharpen my blades ever 2 mowings, mow tall, water in the mornings, killed everything and tilled, limed before seeding.  
 I do have full sun, no shade in front.  That is why I seeded the heat tollerant blue from Scotts which says it is supposed to hold up to those conditions.  That stuff wasn't cheap either, but I believe it isn't doing any better that the tall fescue I had last year.
One other thing, if you stand on top of the grass you can't see the dark color areas, but only when you look at it from off to the side while knealing down and grazing your eyes over the surface, then it just looks sickening.
 I hope I have helped some more. And I appreciate the response and help.  Now with the quack grass, I have searched and found nothing to help me.  Should I just stop seeding if that will take me over anyway? Or are there any home remedies to stop it.  Thanks again. Dan
ANSWER: Everything you're telling me says this is a Fungus, my friend.  Right now, I am not absolutely certain which Fungus.  Affected Grass is not turning brown; it seems to recover on a daily basis; you wash the dark, charcoal-colored powders away -- this is textbook Fungus -- yet the Grass is a normal, healthy green.  The only Fungus I am familiar with that presents symptoms like these is Ustilago striiformis, which causes a disease of Bluegrass and Creeping Bentgrass called 'Leaf Smut' or 'Striped Smut'.

You can read about it on the website of Viette Nurseries, a Pennsylvania retailer (http://clients.ebluekey.com/cms/vf.php?filterParam=Stripe+Smut+&filter=GO!&order) and University of Rhode IslandHorticultural Program, 'Some Common Fungal Diseases  of Turf' (http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/turffungaldis.html).

Infected Grass is streaked with Yellow.  As the disease progresses, blades become Gray.  Eventually the Black spores erupt on the surface and dissipate.  This is a cool weather disease that takes place in Spring and Fall.  It's important to i.d. the Fungus; different Fungi respond to different cures and have different causes.  Notes the University of R.I. website: 'During hot summer weather, smut symptoms often disappear, but the plants are still infected. They are very susceptible to various stresses, such as heat and drought, and many will die. Smut symptoms may return in the fall, and the fungus will continue to live inside the plant until the plant dies.'

OK.  How are you going to get rid of this stuff?

First thing most people want to do is run out and buy a Fungicide.  I have to tell you I am not happy that you 'treated' your Grass to a Scotts Fungicide.  For one thing, if you were right about the Dollar Spot, it could have been easily treated without using a Scotts Fungicide.  In fact, if your carefully cultivated Bluegrass had been fertilized properly, it would not have been vulnerable to any of the diseases you are dealing with now -- many warm season diseases are simply triggered by misapplication of Nitrogen, either over- or under-used, including Dollar Spot.

You sound pretty diligent; I suspect that you did your homework and hit the nail on the head with a Dollar Spot diagnosis.  I'm not talking about some of the remedies I see used here -- sprinkling sugar at 1 bag per thousand sq ft or whatever -- I'm talking about some serious science, documented at major laboratories in some of our top research facilities.  If those research facilities advertised on Superbowl Sunday, everyone would be using THOSE remedies.  Instead, multinational Scotts, which essentially OWNS the Fertilizer/Lawn Care Business, is buying air time.  And most of the country responds with their Lawn Care Dollars.

Unfortunately, it's the same old Scotts message: Buy our Grass, Buy our Fertilizer, Buy our Fungicide, Buy our Weed Killer, give us ALL your money.  You don't have a Fungus problem.  You have a Scotts problem.

Don't believe me?  Let me clarify this for you.

Figure that spores for those Dollar Spot and Striped Smut (or whatever) Fungi were ALWAYS THERE in your Grass, just waiting to erupt.  They sit there, dormant in your Lawn, in the Soil.

Don't believe me?  Let's take Mildew.  It's in the air all the time, right?  And how do we know that?  We know because if you go to take a shower tonight and leave a clean wet towel on the floor, and don't pick it up until next week, there's going to be Mildew on the towel.  No one has to bring it into the house.  We don't have to catch it from anyone.  Thousands of Fungi are EVERYWHERE.  We breathe them, we eat them, we even inject some of them into our bloodstream -- antibiotics.

Grass can be stressed and weakened by Fertilizers like Scotts makes.  Sometimes, too much.   Other times, too little.  Why do you suppose Grass does not get sick ALL THE TIME?  Because like the towel that gets hung up after you use it, your Grass does not get wet for long periods of time.  Any Fungi nearby that erupt have very little time to do any damage.

But there's one more reason.  And that's the presence of GOOD Fungi.  Just by being there, they ruin any chances that Bad Fungi have of taking over the world.

How?

Fungi are competitive.  If you have hundreds of different kinds of Fungi in your soil -- which you did until you put down a Fungus killer -- those Fungi are competing for nutrients, air, real estate.  MOST Fungi are beneficial -- they do GOOD THINGS for the soil.  Many are highly specialized.  They  build barriers around roots that stop pathogens and parasites from attacking.  They live in the soil near the roots and deliver nutrients and water.  They digest Lignin -- the stuff that makes Wood so tough.

But you never hear about Good Fungi.  It's the BAD FUNGI that get all the publicity.

Penicillin -- a Fungus.  Streptomycin -- a Fungus.  Erythromycin...  My guess is that when you applied the Fungicide to kill the Dollar Spot, you wiped out the factors that were controlling this other Fungus.  You don't want to do that.

With respect to the Dollar Spot -- which is frequently confused with Pythium Blight and Brown Patch -- drought is one factor that seems to trigger it, especially if temps are in the 70 to 80 degrees F range.  Brown Patch and Dollar Spot damage but don't kill Grass most of the time.

Now, many Organic Gardeners would head to the kitchen at the first sign of one of these Fungi attacks and bring out the Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate - NaHCO3).  That's a risky thing to do.  Cornell University School of Agriculture did research to find out exactly how effective Baking Soda is against lawn and garden Fungi (the research, by the way, was funded by the company that makes Arm and Hammer Baking Soda -- I hate conflicts of interest, but I do believe there is a lot of merit to this study).

For some tests, the Cornell scientists mixed Baking Soda with Insecticidal Soap or with Horticultural Oil.  In other tests, they used plain Baking Soda.  Results: Baking Soda used straight, with no oil, was completely ineffective.

Cornell also found that a 2 percent mix of Baking Soda/Water DAMAGED plant leaves.  BUT just one spray of a mix of 0.5 percent Baking Soda and 0.5 percent 'SunSpray UFP' horticultural oil practically stopped Powdery Mildew.  Conclusion: If you can get the mix right, you can fight some Fungi very effectively.  But you have to know what you're doing.  There are other studies using Cornmeal -- see the About.com essay 'Using Cornmeal as an Organic Fungicide' by Marie Iannotti:

http://gardening.about.com/od/naturalorganiccontrol/qt/Cornmeal.htm

Guess what?  The Trichoderma Fungus incorporated in Cornmeal IS AN ENEMY OF DOLLAR SPOT!

Writing in the Journal of Applied and Environmental Microbiology, scientists noted that 'Trichoderma virens ...suppresses soil-borne plant diseases caused by a number of fungi and is used as a biocontrol agent.'  (http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/botrender.fcgi?blobtype=html&artid=93271).  The test was conducted by scientists at the USDA and at the Dept of Cell Biology & Molecular Genetics at University of Maryland.  http://stephenville.tamu.edu/~clee/pdncr/index.html.   At A&M, researchers released a paper, 'Biological Control of Soilborne Fungi'.  It declared that 'certain fungal species in the genus Trichoderma feed on mycelium and sclerotia of Sclerotinia minor. Sclerotium rolfsii and Rhizoctonia sp.  All peanut fields in Texas tested to date have a natural population of Trichoderma.  ...When yellow corn meal is applied to fields in the presence of moist surface soil, Trichoderma builds up very rapidly over a 5 to 10 day period.  The resulting high Trichoderma population can destroy vast amounts of Sclerotinia, Sclerotium and Rhizoctonia.  This enhanced, natural biological control process is almost identical to the processes that occur when crop rotation is practiced.'

Next time -- and there should NEVER be a 'Next Time' -- you see Dollar Spot, get a container of Cornmeal and apply to your Lawn.  I guarantee this is going to work.

Now, what can we do about Ustilago striiformis?

I'll look into it.  After that, we'll address your Weeds situation.  Your comments invited, critical or not.  


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: And the situation changes again, haha.  I have gone 3 days now with no discoloration in the areas that it was before.  But guess what, now I am getting mushrooms growing there.  Tall, slender, light brown, very flimbsy mushrooms.  So definately a fungus.  Now I am worried that I am watering too much.  I water for 1 hour in the mornings and again about noon for one hour.  And as of late again at night to get rid of the blackness. I am only dealing with 4500 square feet so not much. My lawn this morning had a beautiful green color and was looking very healthy. Now, the fungicide I used must have did something, but now worried that I also killed the good fungi as you said so will change my methods.

How long should I wait to put the cornmeal on now that I have used the fungicide?

I do residential pest conrol also, will the cornmeal cause any unwanted pest in my lawn that could desroy it?

 On the quack grass, can you believe my wife and I set out there and pick it out by hand but we are still losing the battle.  Will I have to kill everything off again this fall and start again?  Now I can't find anything to stop it but have seen different books on it so I know there must be a good home remedy, or secret to it.  Thanks again for the response, and should I worry about the mushrooms where these dark areas were?  Thanks
Dan
ANSWER: Quackgrass -- "Elytrigia repens".  That's actually Latin for 'sudden field of fire'.  I guess we'll do the bad news first.

Are you sure?

Look up close or dig it up to see the roots.  For some good photos see the USDA website http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ELRE4.  Hardy to Zone 3.  Grows everywhere but Hawaii, Florida and Arizona.

Your tax dollars at work.  Does this look like your weed?  

I hope not.

Quackgrass is aggressive, it's perennial and it's found in Rye straw and fed to horses with daily feed to develop a shiny coat.  If you don't have horses, Dan, there's not much other use for it.  States from Alaska to Wyoming have named it to their official list of Noxious Weeds -- ILLEGAL to grow.  That's like being on the FBI's Most Wanted List.

Quackgrass grows from thing, steel-strong, underground stems -- rhizomes that look like harmless roots but just won't die.  Young plants take at least 2-3 months to develop the underground rhizomes.

That gives you have a maximum three month window to get at baby Quackgrass -- wait longer, and it's a whole new ballgame.

Why?  Those evil rhizomes, that's why!  EXTREMELY tough, VERY strong underground roots.  It's those rhizomes that put Quackgrass in a class all by itself.  If you Rototill a plot where just ONE (1) Quackgrass plant is growing, you chop the rhizomes into little pieces that grow roots all over the place like cockroaches.  You think your House has a pest problem?  Wait 'til you see how Quackgrass multiplies.

One mature Quackgrass specimen produces around 25 seeds after flowering in July.  After that, Quackgrass seeds are viable as long as 4 years later.  Which is why you got rid of it one year and it came back to haunt you again and again and again.

How do you get rid of something like this?

Hand weeding will do it.  But you MUST do it right.  When you pull, make absolutely, positively certain that you get the WHOLE ROOT.  Rhizomes as small as a few centimeters long will create a brand new plant in a matter of weeks.

Some homeowners try the propane tank method of burning their weeds.  Sounds like a good idea.  But it doesn't work.  Because with Quackgrass, a single burn STIMULATES the plant to grow more stems.

HOWEVER, there is a glimmer of hope.  Researchers found that repeated burns in early spring will at least weaken Quackgrass.  After that, new sprouts are more susceptible to
drought and repeated hand weeding.  Adding Nitrogen to your soil accelerates new Quackgrass growth, but remember, that takes a lot of energy, and they don't have unlimited reserves of energy.  This technique is frequently used with success to weaken and eventually destroy many noxious weeds.  Eventually the weed loses the war.  It takes patience.  It takes diligence.  It works.

It is very important by the way to BAG all Grass clippings until your Quackgrass is out of the picture.  Yes, DO NOT LEAVE THOSE CLIPPINGS ON THE LAWN.  Don't compost them.  THROW THEM OUT.  Not ONE single piece of Quack should be returned to the soil it came from.  Be very careful.  You sound like a very careful type, so I have no doubt you are probably already doing this, and if not, you will.

I would like to point out that Roundup was originally hailed as the cure for Quackgrass everywhere.  But farmers have learned that over time this promise did not hold up.  There are other very reliable methods but they are not practical for a lawn -- solarization, for example.  Ditto, Clethodin, Sethoxydim, So if you're thinking of getting that bottle of Roundup out of the garage, I would just hope you did not do that because Saint Fiacre, the patron saint of all gardeners, will be watching you carefully.  He sends me messages through AllExperts and tells me when people do bad things to their Lawns.  I advise you to dispose of your Roundup in the community toxic waste dump where it belongs.   St Fiacre is watching you.  If I had more time, I would go into Roundup's whole history of problems, but we'll save that for a rainy day.

On your 'household pest problem', please specify the pest(s) so I can discuss your Cornmeal problem better.  I want to point out however that the Cornmeal is a solution to your Dollar Spot attack, which MIGHT be history.  It is not a solution to THIS particular Fungus problem.  I do understand your reluctance to exacerbate a household pest problem with Cornmeal all over the Lawn.  More info needed.

Let's discuss the original problem: Smut.

Sounds lovely, doesn't it?  And you are watering it into the Grass on a daily basis.  Wonderful.

There is a set of conditions that enhance growth of Smut in the Lawn.  Any or all of them is Smut-friendly.  This is a Spring-initiated disease; it appeared during cool weather because that's the temps it thrives in.  Cool air and soil temps (60 degrees or cooler).  Moisture (April showers, Watering, frequent spells of rain).  Excess Nitrogen (weakens leaves and makes them accessible to any Fungus amongus).  Thatch (unlikely with your Bluegrass).

Altering the conditions that set you up for Smut in the first place will cure it.  Until the original conditions return.  Warm, even hot Memorial Day weather will eliminate Smut -- for now.  Smut CANNOT grow in these temperatures.  It's not dead.  It's just dormant.

'Moisture' happens every morning when the Sun rises and the air condenses on your Bluegrass.  Dew.  Breakfast for Fungus.  Keep it there long enough, or prolong it with watering, and you ask for more trouble.  You are watering your Smut spores into the ground and then they are growing even better as you water some more.  STOP WATERING!

You sort of have an idea of what's going on because you mentioned Mushrooms and sort of linked them to Fungus.  Mushrooms are a Fungus, but they are not Smut.  Mushrooms have different causes from Smut.  Some Fungus, remember, is GOOD!  'Fungicide' is not all-powerful; it is like 'Food' or 'Clothing'.  It's not THAT specialized.  It will weaken or kill or have no effect.  If it's deep enough underground, a Fungus won't be touched by a Fungicide.  Are you with me?

I'll tell you something about Mushrooms.  Think of them as Flowers.  That's right.  Fungus Flowers.  They grow from spores, and they need certain things to grow.  When they 'bloom', and you see those Mushroom Caps on your Lawn, it tells you there is a Fungus down there.  It's not the Mushrooms that are the problem.  It's the Fungus down there. Way down there.  Fungi are practically the ONLY microbes -- yes, these are microbes -- they are almost the ONLY ones that have the equipment to rot wood.  Wood is made of Lignin.  Bacteria CANNOT break down Lignin.  But Fungi can.  You have Lignin down there underground.  There's Fungi down there breaking it down.  And with your Fungus-friendly watering program, you are growing Mushrooms that are blooming in your Grass.  Let me tell you the good news quickly here:  Mushrooms are ugly, but temporary, and not harmful to your Grass.  In fact, whatever wood is down there being decomposed is sucking up tons of Nitrogen, away from your Grass, to do the decomposing.  This is an exercise that needs Nitrogen to happen.  We'll worry about those later.

For now, you still have a Smut problem.  It's just in remission.  In the fall, if conditions are right -- cool weather, moisture, nothing to stop it -- the Smut will return, and you'll be back watering the spores off the blades.  If this is Smut.  So far, it almost sounds like textbook Smut.

I guess I should not ask you if you have done a soil test.  My next guess is that your pH is low.  A soil test would give you a lot of great information, but if you don't want to be bothered with one of those, get out the Pelletized Lime again -- yes, I know you did that once, you did an excellent job too mixing it in like that.  Pelletized will solve the problem on the surface and bit by bit will penetrate the top inch layer.  It will also make life uncomfortable for the Fungi.  While your other Good Fungi are recovering.  Which they will.  If you don't keep wiping them out.

I am trying hard not to get to complicated here.  Please let me know if I have failed at that.  It is hard to make a point without explaining to educated people the legitimate facts behind the point.  But it is easy to get too complicated and confuse people with the facts.

Please stop watering daily.  And i.d. your household pest for me.  And pick up some PELLETIZED LIME at the garden center between BBQs this weekend.  No Gypsum -- it does not break up compacted soil unless certain other (rare) conditions are also present.  Oh... you should rake up those Mushrooms every morning, to keep it pretty.  Any trees way down there that you had removed a few years ago?

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Mr. James,
 Great information and I was with you all the way and understood.  I will pick up more lime today and do another soil test. I will explain soil conditions to you real quick here.  I live in a new sub division that 3 years ago had cattle roming on it.  Farmer sold the land, houses built and here I am. I am worried because the soil here is red clay and not the good black dirt I was used to in Michigan.  My first soil sample was over average in Phospherus, and way under in PH.  After I did a lime it raised the PH to almost perfect but still high in Phospherus.  Could this be causeing my losing battle?  

 I don't have any pest yet.  I do pest control for a living and do most exterminations in this area. So I can keep out pests, I was just wondering if the cornmeal would attract more than I could handle.  but I will hold off on that for now for I have not had the discoloration now for 5 days.  
 When the quack grass first came out, my wife and kids and myself would pick it out by the roots.  I acturally paid my children a nickle for every quack grass they got out.  It still took over.  I don't want it to sound worse than it is for my lawn is still a very dark green, blue color and thick as can be.  Still nicest  have ever seen.  And very nice to walk on although I try not to.
  Let me run something else by you real quick.  I planted 2 red maples in my yard yesterday, I cut out the top section of the grass to replant it in somewhere else.  One of the areas I planted was where the black color color was,or probably smut was.  The soil that had the discoloration was light brown and very much harder, almost hard to dig, and the other hole was very dark soil and moist.  But all got the same amount of water and is level to the other. Do yo think this soil where the discoloration is is bad soil causing unhealthy roots and causing the smut. And Do you think that maybe it just nees broken down more with the lime.  
 As I said, I will get lime today.  I am sure I need more,  is it possible to over lime?
  Ok, basically is too much phospherus bad cause I can't get it down, and can I over lime?  I will pull up mushrooms and not water daily.  I am going to do another soil test and I will send you the results.  
Look forward to hearing from you .  Thanks. Dan
ANSWER: Soil does not cause Fungus, although there are millions of Fungus spores in the soil, and the air, constantly.  Fungus is opportunistic.  It has evolved over millions of years to do be AMAZINGLY patient.

I'm interested in seeing what your next soil test comes up with.  I hope this is a quality test you are obtaining.  Not all soil tests are alike.  Have you gotten any data on a detail called 'EC'?  The Electrical Conductivity test ('EC') measures Salts in your soil.  You said our pH was previously low, and Phosphorous tested high.  Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service: 'Certain clay soils and highly fertile garden soils high in organic matter may have high soil test values for Phosphorus and Potassium but contain only normal amounts of free Salts.  This is a highly desirable condition.  Crops grown under high Salt conditions tend to have a dark Bluegreen color in addition to stunted growth. Crops stunted by low fertility are often Yellowish.' (http://www.uark.edu/depts/soiltest/soiltest_notes/H007.htm)  Please give me more data on your Soil test when you have the opportunity.

Going back to the Fungus/Smut, I would like to know if the problem ceased as the weather heated up.  If so, it's just more evidence pointing to a Smut diagnosis.  Which means it's still there.  Waiting.  You still have to kill it.  It is possible that the Cornmeal would cultivate Smut-hostile microbes, but I have to check on this.  Unfortunately I don't know what Cornmeal will do to your house insect problem.  I am hoping you will solve that so you can put down the Cornmeal soon.  I'll look further into Smut erasers.  Remember, just because the Smut is out to lunch right now does not mean it will always be out to lunch.

I'm going to go down the list here and try to organic my thoughts.  By the way, you have some amazing questions.  You have done a lot of prep work before you came up with them and I can appreciate how much effort you have put into this Lawn.  It's a real pleasure to hear from someone who 'gets it'.

Now, I'm going to bed, and when I wake up, I'll come back to this.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Ok, I am awaiting the soil test now.  Probably take a couple few days. I actually send it to the Department of Agriculture.  
 Man, I think my excessive watering has cause yet another issue.  The charcoal color is now spreading on the entire lawn but is now scrapeable of the blade.  I have looked up pictures of this on the net just browsing and according to the pictures I have a severe case of powdery mildew.  It is a fine dust the is easily wiped off in some areas but sticks on in others.  Don't get me wrong, my lawn is still dark green and full as can be.  We got some rain this morning and the quack grass seems to grow faster for by the time I got home from work it was 2 inches taller than my bluegrass.  
 The discoloration in the grass which is smut may have been from over watering, and now the powdery mildew?  That is what is in my mind of what is happening.  What do you think.  None the less, nothing killing my lawn at all and it is still growing rapidly, even in this drought we are having here.  I am mowing at 4 inches twice a week.
Ok, since I already put the fungicide on my lawn, which seemed to have gotten rid of the dollar spot, should I still use the cornmeal right now or wait?
 I do love working in my lawn, the reason is I was a small farm hand in Michigan for years and moving down here out of the country to a sub division, it seems to be all there is to do when I am not at work.  Plus, a green lawn really makes my home look nice, but knowing the green lawn is actually grass is better.  I have a couple neighbors that have nice green lawns as well, but when the heat comes it turns to crabgrass and bermuda.
 Which brings me to the next question,  I am having good luck keeping the bermuda grass out of my lawn so far by keeping mine thick.  Is this all I can do.  I do not like that grass at all and want it no where near my property.

Thanks again.  I will let you know as soon as I get the soil test.   Dan
ANSWER: You have a Natural Disaster going on down there in your formerly perfect Lawn.  It's spreading, and it's malignant.  CORNMEAL WILL NOT WORK ON THIS.

Kansas State University posts a report, 'Problem: Stripe smut and Flag smut'.  Given your ongoing relationship with Ustilago striiformis, it seems only fair to include its findings here.

The Host Plants of both these ailments, Ustilago striiformis and Urocystis agropyri are Creeping Bentgrass and 'certain cultivars of Kentucky Bluegrass,' with Stripe smut being the more common of the two -- at least in Kansas.  They note: 'Individual leaf blades infected with the disease are slightly curled and have tattered or shredded tips, similar in appearance to damage caused by a dull mower blade.  Leaves also develop black sooty or powdery stripes which run parallel with the leaf veins.  The sooty substance is composed of millions of fungal spores... Once inside the plant, the fungus grows... Diseased plants are very sensitive to high temperatures and drought conditions and often die during the hot summer months...'

There is a very clear closeup photo of this condition at the University of Illinois Extension Service website:

http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/hortanswers/detailProblem.cfm?PathogenID=185

U of Ill says Annual Bluegrass and Fescues are also affected.  They add: 'Turf that is 2 to 3 or more years old and locations where pH is below 6.0 are more likely to have smut. The pathogens grow systemically throughout a grass plant; once infected, a plant remains so for life.'

Let's read that again:  ONCE INFECTED, A PLANT REMAINS SO FOR LIFE.

Got that?

This is INCURABLE.

They also state that 'spring and summer applications of Nitrogen can enhance smut severity.'  Let me tell you, my friend, when they say that fertilizing your sick Grass 'can enhance Smut severity,' that is an understatement.  And this is why it is BAD to use Scott's products on your Lawn.  Scott's and other chemical fertilizers are PACKED with Nitrogen to give you that ultra-green it-just-rained glow for 24 to 48 hours.  Chemical Nitrogen Fertilizer is Smut's Best Friend.

There are 2 choices here.

One: You can use a chemical Fungicide, which I never recommend if there is a non-chemical choice, which there is, but you're an adult, it's a free country, and if you want to use something called Banner Maxx (active ingredient: Propiconazole), and drench your Lawn and Soil with this stuff, you might get rid of it.  I think you have to kiss the Grass that is infected goodbye.

Two: Kill the Grass that's infected thoroughly.  Given that you can also wipe out Bermudagrass and Quackgrass at the same time, this looks like a good idea to me.  Because the best way to do these is to Solarize the soil.  It looks ugly and takes almost 2 months.  But when you're done, you begin with a clean slate.

I have to emphasize that a 'clean slate' MIGHT not mean that the Fungi spores are gone.  They may survive even solarization.  But you can plant a variety of Bluegrass that is highly resistant to Smut in the Fall.  If this pathogen is still present, it will only attack annual Bluegrass or a few other Weeds, instead of your premium-priced Smut-resistant state-of-the-art Bluegrass and your White and Red Clover which you included to build up the Nitrogen in the soil.

You Solarize in the Summer, then you seed your new Lawn and fertilize it with something GOOD for the soil -- NOT STARTER FERTILIZER FROM SCOTTS -- and then in the Spring '08 you put down Corn Gluten Meal pre-emergent Weed Killer to keep any new Weeds from ruining the view.  Get yourself a Birdbath and a Birdfeeder.  It will give you something else to do.

And by the way, I love working on your Lawn, too.

Them's the choices.  Bad news, I know.  By the way, the Stripe Smut is contageous.  How do your neighbors' Lawns look?

Rate me please.  I'd like to be nominated if you are so inclined -- a race to be included on the AllExperts of the Year list at the end of the year.

And let me know what you think.  It will take a little time to sink in.  Ask around.  A second opinion, a third opinion, I'm all ears.  Meantime, I'll keep looking for a cure.  There are a lot of State Cooperative Extensions I did not get to.  Maybe one of them knows something new.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I knew it was coming, actually here are my plans.  My lawnd does look very good but is slowly developing problems like this disease and the grassy weeds that most passer by's don't see.  I decided yesterday before you sent the reply that I was going to KILL it off at the end of summer, soil test, cultivate, and put down products that you recommened instead of Scotts.  I hope by doing this it also knocks out the quack grass.  When I did this before, I didn't kill it off first.  
 My neighbors lawns are all crabgrass, quackgrass, and right now turning into burmuda.  They don't care about there lawns.  Like I said, brand new sub division and houses around here.  I was the first one here 2 years ago.  
 Oh, and a birdbath won't keep me busy enough. haha.
Dan

Answer
Dan, I have to point out that you 'killed everything and tilled' meaning you probably either (a) did the Round-Up treatment all over the yard, then tilled or (b) just tilled and assumed this was going to kill everything in sight.

Tilling does a lot of good things, but it has a negative side.  It breaks up the soil structure totally.  It alienates the life out of the soil.  And it brings up weed seeds and weed pieces that are exposed to moisture and heat, next thing you know they're exploding all over the place.  There are only a few truly awful Weeds, but Quackgrass is one of them and they are quite virulent.  Even if you Round-Upped the place last time, you would not eliminate your Weeds problem(s).

IF you had Solarized last time, however -- Solarized, tilled, Solarized -- you WOULD have wiped out ALL the Weeds.  That's the advantage of Solarization.  You'll have to take it easy around those new trees, but basically, it's like an eraser on a blackboard.  Earthworms get uncomfortable and move down and away; everything else gets roasted.  See this entry on Solarization at The American Phytopathological Society online glossary:

http://www.apsnet.org/education/illustratedglossary/PhotosS-V/solarization.htm

There's a nice little photo of Solarization in action there too.  APS defines Solarization as a 'disease control practice in which soil is covered with polyethylene sheeting and exposed to sunlight, thereby heating the soil and controlling soilborne plant pathogens.'

The APS website is a library of serious scientific research.  One studied the 'Effect of Soil Sterilization and Cover Crops on Populations of Selected Soilborne Plant Pathogens in Western Oregon'nin 199596.  Here are some of the observations made during that study:

1.  'Solarization ... targets mesophyllic organisms, which include most plant pathogens and pests without destroying the beneficial mycorrhizal Fungi and growth-promoting Bacillus species.'  ('Mesophyllic' Bacteria decompose organic matter at 'moderate' soil temps between 40 degrees and 110 degrees F, with optimal temps at around 70 to 90 degrees F.; 'Thermophilic' Bacteria prefer higher temps.)  Increased soil temperatures result in decreased populations of Weeds and a range of plant pathogens, including Fungi, Bacteria, and Nematodes.'

2.  'Greenberger et al. demonstrated that solarized soils are often more suppressive to certain soilborne pathogens than nonsolarized soils...'

3.  'Cover cropping followed by incorporation of plant residues into soil has been reported to suppress certain soilborne pathogens and root diseases.  The efficacy of various organic amendments for controlling soilborne plant pathogens has been attributed to the formation fo toxic volatile compounds or to an increase in antagonistic soil microflora.'

4.  'Not only can Green Manures provide an alternate disease control approach, they may increase nutrient availability, reduce groundwater contamination, and stimulate beneficial microflora in the soil.  Adding organic residues to the soil may increase the benefits of solarization.'

O.K., we see that Solarization, done correctly, is not just a cheaper way of cleaning the slate.  It's the most effective way, too.  But how good is it at targeting specifically your most important enemies, Quackgrass, Bermudagrass, and that Stripe Smut Fungus?  I'm looking for a study that would answer that.  I'll let you know when I find something definitive.

I don't doubt that your Lawn is still the prettiest one in town, despite these troubles.  Perfectionists don't settle for being the best; their goal is perfection.  As we approach the Summer, however, and the Smut-infected KBG comes under stress from drought and heat, I would expect it all to reach the final stages of this disease.  But you'll have to see that first; no reason to yank up perfectly good Turfgrass because something bad 'might' happen.  Keep me posted, and if and when you want to discuss how to Solarize your soil, let me know.