Grass Fungus

Snow Mold
Snow mold is actually always present in lawns. What causes it to appear is a moist, damp area with freezing temperatures 0°C and below.

It usually crops up in the spring, as snow starts to melt and dead patches start showing. Generally, these patches are about the size of a plate, but can be much larger.

Looking closely at the patches, you should be able to see a faint, gray, pink fungal growth on or around the patches.

Unfortunately fungicide is useless if there is all ready damage. The only thing you can do is wait for the grass to grow back, as temperatures rise, snow mold can't survive. Another option is to reseed the areas to promote growth if the damage is particularly bad.

Prevention is always the best remedy, and snow mold is no different.

Tips To Avoid Snow Mold
-Don't fertilize after late August. This only promotes the growth of different fungi since it leaves the grass in a state of softness that makes fungi grow more readily.

-Continue mowing until the end of fall to keep your grass at its regular height. Long, matted, pieces of grass covered by snow is ripe for the picking when it comes to snow mold.

-Make sure you rake up and dispose of all leaves that may carry more fungi.

-Finally, try and avoid snow compaction. Meaning, if you can get people to stay of your yard and not compact the snow to the ground, it will melt easier, and stop snow mold from growing.

For more tips and tricks be sure to check out Lawn Care Secrets

Brown Patch
Brown patch thrives in very hot weather. This is because there is so much stress on the grass that it has little defense against this disease. It's also one of the most destructive of the grass fungi that can attack your lawn. By the time you've noticed a problem, it's all ready done, and is still doing a lot of damage.

It appears as circular brown spots on your lawn that can range from very small to very large. Some times these patches will grow together. Often you will be able to notice a small dark ring surrounding the patch.

Tips To Get Rid of And Avoid Brown Patch
-Mow less frequent during times of hot and humid air. This stops spreading the disease by preventing infected grass clippings from your mower and your feet from finding other areas of the lawn.

-Don't use fast release nitrogen fertilizer during hotter months. This adds more stress to the grass, and leaves it vulnerable for brown patch to grow.

-Try and increase light or air to affected areas by pruning overhanging branches and moving things that may be blocking sunlight from reaching your lawn.

For more tips and tricks be sure to check out Lawn Care Secrets

Dollar Spot
Dollar spot is another fungi that enjoys warmer climates to grow in, though it's not as destructive as brown patch.

Symptoms of this fungi look as though gray or silver spots are appearing in affected areas of the lawn. As well, on closer inspection of the grass blade itself, you should see hour glass shaped brown or red edges.

Tips On Dealing With Dollar Spot
- Regularly water your lawn. Low soil moisture is a common reason why dollar spots form. Water early in the morning as this is the best time to prevent dollar spot growth.

-Low nitrogen levels also cause dollar spots to appear. Fertilize the affected areas with a good balanced fertilizer to help raise the nitrogen levels back to optimal.

-Keep thatch levels as normal as possible so that water can penetrate the soil and keep it moist.

-There are fungicides on the market specifically designed to deal with Dollar Spot disease. If taking the measures above doesn't work, you may have to resort to chemicals.

For more tips and tricks be sure to check out Lawn Care Secrets

Fairy Ring
Fairy Ring's can be extremely tough to get rid of, and cause far more headaches than any other type of lawn disease.

They appear thanks to a couple of different types of fungi, but the treatment and symptoms are the same. Due to fungal threads that are created in the soil, they effectively starve grass by taking all it's nutrients and water supply.

Tips on Dealing With Fairy Rings
As I said above, this can be a really tough condition to manage. However, there are some steps you can take that will help prevent the diseases spread.

-If the fairy ring contains toadstools, clip them from their base and put them in a burn pile. You don't want to redistribute the fungus via compost or any other means, so burning them will destroy the spores preventing spread.

-Mow the effected area separately from the rest of your lawn. That is, mow the effected area, then when done, collect the grass clippings and also burn them. Use a fungicide to clean your mower blades to prevent more spreading.

-Fungicide containing dichlorophen has been shown to be effective in combating this disease. However if chemicals aren't your thing....

-The chemical free way is to dig around the affected area and remove the infected soil and disposing of it. Then replace with fresh soil, and re-sod/turf/seed the new patch you've just created.

For more tips and tricks be sure to check out Lawn Care Secrets

Pythium Blight
Pythium Blight thrives in rainy, foggy weather in low level areas where air circulation is rather poor.

It appears as dark, greasy or slimy patches of matted grass, and in severe cases can cause a cotton like substance to appear on plants in and around the area.

Tips To Deal with Pythium Blight
- Do your watering early in the morning and aerate as much as possible.

- Try and promote air circulation by removing shady spots (pruning, etc.) around the affected area.

-In warm and humid weather, applying a fungicide may be the only option you have. But make sure the weather conditions are just right and follow the directions very carefully.

For more tips and tricks be sure to check out Lawn Care Secrets