Photo by Artazum

Once springtime rolls around, the neighborhood race is on. Who can have the greenest lawn for the longest span-it’s all anyone cares about. And it should be. A healthy looking yard is a great introduction to your house. The care you put into your yard often represents the dedication you put into the rest of your home. Even if it’s not accurate in every circumstance, it’s still nice to show the outside world that your yard is in pristine condition. Plus, a lush green lawn just makes the entire property look better.

So, what happens when you put in all the effort only to see your grass develop nasty brown patches? Or if a clump of clover takes over your front yard? It can be pretty frustrating after pouring countless hours and days into your property. There are plenty of common diseases that your lawn can fall victim too. From rogue breeds to bug infestations, it’s nearly impossible to stay on top of all of them. The best you can hope to do is treat them when they appear. And luckily, there are plenty of aids out there to help you.

For this cheat sheet’s purposes, we’ll simply focus on the diseases that you may encounter. There are more varieties than you might think, but the following are some of the more popular ones:

Dollar spot

Despite its popularity, many find themselves asking what is dollar spot lawn disease? Turns out, it’s exactly like it sounds like-big round brown patches that spread throughout your yard. At first, you may not pay much attention. The rings start out only the size of a silver dollar, but as it progresses, the spots will spread into each other and create larger spots.

The fungus thrives when conditions are humid and dry. Typically the temperature that benefits it most is somewhere in between the 60 to 80 degree range. If this sounds like the environment that you live in, don’t worry, there are fixes.

Late spring fertilization will be most beneficial in preventing dollar spot, but if you’re already past that point, you’ll need to get the sprinklers out. A strict mowing schedule and aeration will also help the process. And of course, the local hardware store will carry product that can help the situation as well. It may take some time, but following these steps will mean that in the end your yard will be as green as ever.

Snow Mold

Photo by josefkubes

Much like dollar spot, snow mold is a circular infection that arises at the surface of the grass. It occurs when there are high levels of nitrogen fertilization. Raking and thatching the area will make it as good as new grass over time. The other good news is that this is mostly a seasonal disease. If you have warm season grasses, you likely won’t have to do anything to fix the problem. If you find that a bare spot or hole was left after raking, simply sprinkle seed back into the area as you normally would. The disease won’t carry over to your new grass. After that, sit back and enjoy your lush lawn.

Red Thread

A type of thatch grass, read thread appears as a blight on grass strands. They will look dried out and may even have a reddish hint to them. They could also potentially sport moldy puffs. There’s no need to panic. Continue to raise your nitrogen levels and treat your lawn as normal. So long as you follow these tips, your lawn will be the talk of the block.