Question
We own a house in New Jersey with a rather large lawn of mainly Kentucky Blugrass, which we maintained throughout the summer.  A professional landscaping service took charge of the lawnmowing throughout the season while we had someone else who we closely monitored do the other work, including fertilizing and weedkiller to eliminate the crabgrass.  Now we will have a moderate amount of crabgrass, but we also have some rather strange symptoms on one side of the house only.  It resembles a problem we noticed last year about this time and in the spring, altho less severe in the spring.  the blades of grass are sprayed with a white substance and later with brown.  I would not be so worried except that last year a large amount of grass ended up brown and grass was almost dead.  Do you know what's wrong?

Answer
Mildew isn't just for bathroom towels anymore.  You can find it in your grass in spring and autumn, when temperatures drop and moisture levels rise.  The University of Minnesota has produced an entire essay on the subject (http://www.extension.umn.edu/projects/yardandgarden/ygbriefs/p318powderymildew-l...) (please ignore their advice about fungicide) and declares: "Powdery mildew, caused by the fungus Erysiphe graminis, is a common disease of Kentucky bluegrass and fescue. The fungus survives winter in infected plant material and produces spores throughout the growing season, which are rain splashed or wind blown to susceptible grass blades. Infected leaves are covered with a dusty, powdery white to gray fungal coating, which can be rubbed off with fingers. The grass often looks as if it has been dusted with flour or lime. Heavily infected leaves may turn yellow and die, causing areas of turf to thin."  Mildew attacks soar in spring and autumn, they note.  Sound familiar?

Luckily, temps are headed way down, and it is just going to be too darn cold for even the hardiest Mildew spore to hold onto its territory much longer.  As we speak, those spores are shivering in the grass, just hoping for a warm spell.  Their days are numbered.  No artificial chemicals or toxic waste needed to wipe out those Mildew Monsters - God will take care of that.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but if you are making good use of your expensive, built in automatic sprinkler system, turn off the water and call it a day.  Grass doesn't need to be watered in November unless you're living south of the Equator or somewhere, I imagine, in California, where watering grass is probably illegal anyway.  Sometimes people just feel they aren't getting their money's worth if they aren't watering their grass with their automated equipment.  It is time to turn off the sprinklers and hoses, and get out the snowshovels.  Next spring, if you are indeed guilty of overwatering your grass, wait until the thermometer hits the high 80s before you turn it back on.  Your grass is too wet.

This problem tends to be exacerbated by overuse of Nitrogen fertilizers.  A little Nitrogen is good, a lot must be better, right?  Wrong!  The grass blades growth accelerates and weakens; along comes Mildew and kaboom, it looks like someone poured white paint all over your grass.  Next year, stick with a slow release product that is not made by the Scotts Company or another multinational corporation.  Blood Meal, Alfalfa, Milorganite, Manure mulch are just some of the excellent sources of Nitrogen to help your grass.