Identify and Control Lawn Fungus

Lawn fungus; materializing in numerous colours under varied environmental conditions, it attacks a wide range of grasses. Knowing how to identify it early, before it becomes a major problem, will save both time and money. Anyone who is concerned about the having a beautiful lawn should monitor it for signs of disease, prevent outbreaks if possible and treat disease infestations quickly and effectively.

Appearance and Damage Caused

Humidity Control

Lawn fungus materializes as a variety of rings, spots and patches during different times of the year.

In the summer, one to three foot wide brown patches often show up during hot weather. People in areas with both hot weather and high humidity, like the Lower Mainland of British Columbia or Southern Ontario, may also see gray or purple tinged rings appear around the edge of the blotches.

In the winter, grass snow mold (a type of lawn fungus) may likely appear after the snow melts or during long periods of cold, wet weather. These patches are often pink or gray and can have quite different effects on your lawn.

Pink snow-mold produces roughly circular bleached patches up to 60 centimetres in diametre. It may initially look white and mature to a faint pink or salmon color. It can invade the crowns and roots of grass, causing serious injury or even killing it.

Gray snow-mold is seen in similar-sized patches as pink snow mold, but as a light gray or white colour. It is unsightly but less serious than pink mold, rarely damaging more than the blades of grass. If it has not spread extensively, gray snow-mold may even disappear once the affected lawn has had time to dry thoroughly.

Disease Management

Preventing grass mold it from attacking your lawn in the first place is the best way of managing it. Don't ignore the possible signs of disease, as it is more cost-effective to prevent the lawn mold growth from developing than cure areas where it has become established.

There are several steps which may help ward off outbreaks of lawn snow mold. Avoiding excessive nitrogen fertilizers, cleaning up leaves, managing thatch and mowing your lawn until it stops growing are all simple ways to prevent outbreaks of lawn fungus.

Choosing a good fungicide is also an effective way to both treat outbreaks of grass snow mold and prevent them from reoccurring; however, many people don't wish treat their lawn with chemicals due to health and environmental concerns. Thankfully, products like ZeroTol are available.

Both safe and environmentally friendly, fungicides like ZeroTol (commercial) or ZeroTol Ready-to-Spray (home & garden) can cure existing outbreaks of grass snow mold in addition to killing the spread of moss. ZeroTol is environmentally friendly and non-toxic. It is also highly effective, frequently producing visible results in less than 48 hours.

Identify and Control Lawn Fungus