How to Prevent Lawn Diseases in Your Yard: 5 Tips

Northern Virginia is home to a great many fine lawns, but with our hot, humid weather over the summer, there’s more than a few stricken by a variety of lawn diseases. If you have persistent discolored patches or rings of mushrooms in your lawn, contact AllGreen Landscape Co.: (703) 992-8787. Our Chantilly lawn care experts can diagnose and treat the majority of lawn diseases and help you prevent future outbreaks. In the meantime, try these 5 things to help your lawn get healthy:

1. Understand Common Lawn Diseases in Northern Virginia

Before you can treat a lawn disease, you first need to know what kind of problem it is so you can eliminate the underlying problem. These are the most common lawn diseases we have in Chantilly:

• Brown Patch—Tall fescue and perennial ryegrass and tall fescue are susceptible to the fungus called “Brown Patch”, particularly after a long stretch of hot, humid weather. As the name suggests, you’ll experience irregularly-shaped tan-to-brown patches sized anywhere from 6 inches to a few feet in diameter.
• Red Thread—Fescue and ryegrass may also experience this kind of fungus, usually during cool, wet spring weather. The blades will be afflicted with a pinkish-red, slimy fungus. As drier weather comes, these patches turn a straw-pink color.
• Dollar Spot—A common disease in bluegrass, you may notice baseball-sized, straw-colored spots, particularly in the spring or fall.
• Fairy-Ring Fungus—If you notice large, ring-shaped areas of dying grass with an odd, quick-growing border of grass or mushrooms, you have an area of grass that’s dying and not drinking water.

Some other problems you might see in your Northern Virginia lawns are rust, powdery mildew or slime molds. On the other hand, the odd mushroom here or there isn’t usually a sign of trouble.

2. Fertilize Your Lawn Correctly

Fungi take hold in lawns that aren’t getting the right balance of nutrients. Follow the correct fertilizer schedule for your lawn species, usually 4 times annually, from the spring through the fall.

3. Water Your Lawn Correctly

You can prevent a host of lawn diseases simply by watering your lawn the right way. You should typically water between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 a.m.—not overnight because the water will just sit on the blades and invite mold and fungus to grow. We have 5 lawn watering tips that should help.

4. Mow Correctly

Set your lawn mower so that the lawn is cut neither too high, nor too short. Going too short can weaken the blades and put the roots at risk. Usually, the best height lives between 3 and 4 inches from the base. Cut no more than 1/3 of the blade during each mow.

5. Does My Lawn Need a Fungicide?

Sometimes climate, soil and other circumstances combine against your lawn and you need something stronger to eliminate the fungus. If you’ve done all you can and need some assistance to rid your lawn of disease, contact AllGreen Landscape Co. in Chantilly and we can diagnose the problem and give your lawn the care it needs to grow green and lush again: (703) 992-8787.