Have you heard of dollar spot disease? Afraid you might be dealing with it right now? The lawn disease gets its name from the silver-dollar-sized circles of dead grass that appear as the fungus grows. While these patches can link together and spread across your whole lawn, it’s relatively easy to prevent this from happening with the right help.
Here are the facts behind why this disease occurs and how to prevent it:
Superficial watering is the most common cause of dollar spot disease.
Watering your lawn deeply once or twice a week is better for your grass than watering quickly once a day. This allows water to soak far enough into the soil to reach the roots, where shallow watering jobs soak the grass but rarely get the dirt wet. The resulting humidity encourages fungus and rot. While simply changing the way you water can help heal your lawn, you may find a fungicide expedites the healing process and roots out the problem quickly and completely.
Heavy thatch creates the perfect conditions for dollar spot to sprout.
If you have a heavy buildup of dead grass on the top layers of your yard’s soil, this can effectively prevent water from reaching the dirt. The effect is essentially the same as superficial watering sessions. The solution, however, is a bit different. Dethatching has many benefits and healthy watering and fungal avoiding are just two, but you can also clear up the problem by aerating your lawn.
Cutting your grass too low or cutting it too low at one time.
Sometimes, homeowners run into problems, and while you don’t see many homes in Atlanta sporting extra-long grass, there is an appropriate way to handle overgrowth. You shouldn’t shave off more than one-third the length of your grass at one time, especially during dry spells. This can damage your lawn and make it doubly susceptible to disease once it begins to rain.
Poor quality grass suffers from many diseases.
Sometimes you just have poor quality grass. It may be thin, light green or have bare spots, which usually signifies an underlying problem. It may be that your soil is toxin-heavy or that the pH is especially low. Taking a soil sample can help find the problem, giving you a chance to fight the problem. If it is just the result of a low-quality brand of grass, you can overseed with a better variety.
Are you in need of lawn care service Brentwood TN? To get your dollar spot disease under control with a free quote from Think Green Lawn Care, call 678.648.2556. We’ll treat with a fungicide, if needed, and help you tailor your maintenance plan to the conditions in your yard. A beautiful, lush, green and disease-free lawn is within your reach when you work with the pros from Think Green Lawn Care.
