This week in the summer lawn disease spotlight is brown patch disease! With all the warm and wet weather we’ve been having here in northeast Ohio, the conditions are prime for this disease to pop up in your lawn. No one wants that to happen though, so learn how you can spot and treat it now!

What is It?

Brown patch is caused by rhizoctonia solani fungus. It’s very common when temperatures are high and grass is left either damp or wet. Lawns with compacted soil will be more vulnerable to Brown Patch too. This disease will infect and kill grass blades, leaving your once green lawn with brown patches (hence the name brown patch disease). Luckily, this disease will not kill the plant itself, just the blades.

How to Treat It

If your lawn already has Brown Patch, then it can be treated with a fungicide treatment. You can also aerate your lawn to reduce the compaction throughout the soil and it will also air out the infected soil. After an aeration, you can reseed with a grass type that is more resistant to the rhizoctonia fungus, which will help prevent your lawn getting Brown Patch in the future.

How to Prevent It

If your lawn does not have Brown Patch, but you are worried about getting it then there are a few prevention measures that you can take:

• Water deeply and less frequently-this allows the soil to really soak up water and no standing water will be left on the blades of the grass

• Avoid mowing your lawn too short

• Improve yard drainage to make sure there is no standing water in your lawn

• Aerate your lawn every year to prevent soil from becoming compacted 

Read even more about Brown Patch and prevention techniques in our previous article here.

You don’t have to do it all alone! Let a professional help! Certified lawn care technicians are trained to recognize and treat lawn care diseases as soon as symptoms show. Learn what you should know when it comes to hiring a professional in our FREE Hiring Guide! Just click below to download your copy today!