All About
Lawn Disease
What is it?
Lawn Disease is a general term used to describe a host of different pathogens in your turf. Most often, it refers to different Fungi that can devastate lawns (especially fescue in this area) in very rapid progression, most often during the summer. Brown Patch and Dollar Spot disease are the most common diseases we see in Hampton Roads, capable of destroying 25-50% of a beautiful lawn in just 7-10 days or less.
What causes it?
The most destructive of diseases we generally see occur in the summer. Quite simply, these fungal pathogens flourish in hot, humid, wet, sunny conditions. This is why lawn care professionals tell you to never water in the afternoon or evening before dark. Doing so wets the lawn when the fungi are most likely to propagate. But Mother Nature often does so for us, with afternoon rain showers that soak the surface of the lawn before breaking way to sunny, hot and suddenly way more humid conditions than before the rain. And lawn disease flourishes because of it.
How do we stop it?
Maintenance
>Mow your lawn every week, never cutting more than 1/3 of the blade at a time
>Water at least 3 times per week, about 1/2" each time
>Never water midday or later, always in the morning
Curative Control
This is included in every one of our programs at no additional charge. Each time the technician visits the lawn, they will treat any disease spots they see with a fungicide, eradicating most of the infections at the time they apply. This will not offer any residual protection however and if conditions favor fungal growth, disease can come back rapidly, further damaging the lawn
Prevention
An optional service, designed to apply products every 21 days that will protect your lawn from 90-95% of disease damage. They need to be reapplied regularly to have continued effect. While expensive, they do provide protection against disease related destruction of the lawn.
Read Below for more details
Do i need preventative disease control?
Preventative disease control isn't necessary for everyone. Its costly, requiring 5 or 6 additional treatments per summer, each at about 1.5 times the rate of your regular treatment cost. Lawns that are more shaded are less prone to fungus. For a lot of customers, the cost associated isn't a value to replace lawn damage for a few months in the summer. But for those clients who have brown spots year after year, or who want to do everything possible to keep the lawn healthy and green and beautiful, then the preventative program can make the difference for a great lawn all summer long. Give us a call to discuss options or get started on a preventative program anytime.