5 Problems Your Texas Lawn Could Experience In Fall Or Winter
As the weather cools, the likelihood of fungus problems and stress damage increases for our lawns. With higher precipitation in fall and winter, fungal diseases will take full advantage and ruin the health and look of our lawns. Keep reading to learn about some common problems your lawn could be experiencing right now.
5 Issues To Watch Out For During Lawn Maintenance Routines
As you go about your regimen of mowing and watering, keep an eye out for symptoms of some of the most common lawn complaints we see here in North Texas.
1. Drought Stress
A common occurrence for lawns in hotter climates, drought stress, happens when our turfgrass doesn’t have adequate water necessary to perform vital functions. This could be the result of poor rainfall in spring and summer or irregular watering schedules. The most significant indicator your lawn is suffering drought stress is large swaths of thinning brown grass. Another clue is to watch how the grass responds when you walk across it. Healthy grass should spring up as if you were never there in the first place. Drought-stressed grass will stay bent over, leaving a clear trace of where you walked.
Some warm-season grasses, like Bermuda grass, have a high tolerance for drought stress, but nothing is guaranteed. Interestingly, Bermuda grass can go dormant to conserve its energy and resources. If you have this varietal, you might have noticed how easy it can bounce back after a dry spell. Other varietals, like St. Augustine, are more sensitive and cannot go dormant. Instead, St. Augustine grass will die off if parched of water for too long.
2. Take-all Root Rot
Also known as TARR, take-all root rot is one of the worst afflictions in warm-season grasses. This disease will first appear in late fall and winter when the temperature is cool and the earth is still moist before the frost comes. A red flag to look for is large patches of discolored grass. Healthy grass should look like a green carpet, but turfgrass infected with TARR will appear pale green or yellowish. What’s tricky about TARR is that it can sometimes be mistaken for other lawn problems. While you’re increasing your lawn fertilization applications, the real problem could be this fungus. The easiest way to know for sure that you’re dealing with TARR is to look for an irregular shape. Other diseases have a more uniform distribution. If your grass can easily be pulled up by the clump, you can pretty much bet you’re dealing with TARR. If you suspect you’ve got TARR on your lawn, we highly advise you to call us right away. This disease can and will destroy your entire yard if left untreated.
3. Iron Chlorosis
This disease is tough to treat and is caused by a lack of nutrients in the soil. You can identify this disease by its lines of yellow running through your lawn. Like TARR, iron chlorosis can consume your entire lawn, leaving it sickly and yellow. In some instances, iron chlorosis can bleach the color from your grass altogether, leaving you with a white-colored lawn! St. Augustine grass is the most susceptible to this problem, especially in yards with an overabundance of moisture.
4. Shade Stress
If drought is caused by too much sun and dryness, shade stress is the other end of the spectrum – caused by lack of sunlight. Warm-season grass varietals need more sun than cool-season grass blends, some as much as 10 or 12 hours of direct light a day. If your yard is shaded from larger shrubs or trees, this can impact the health of your lawn, leaving it thin, wilted, and prone to disease.
5. Brown Patch
Like many fungal diseases, overwatering your lawn can invite brown patch to take hold. Unlike TARR, which has an irregular shape to its spread, brown patch is neater and more circular. You will first notice yellow, wilted blades of grass in circular patches. If left untreated, the patches’ diameters can grow as large as three feet and join up with other patches to form one sizeable diseased area.
How To Prevent These Problems
Keep Up With Fertilizing
Health turfgrass that gets all the minerals it requires will have an easier time withstanding stressors and fending off diseases. As we discussed, some conditions are a direct result of mineral deficiency.
Don’t Over Or Underwater
If you haven’t figured it out by now, too much water can lead to a whole slew of fungal microbes that wreak havoc on your lawn. Conversely, you don’t want to leave your grass thirsty for extended periods.
Leave It To The Pros
At Gro Lawn, we customize our lawn care programs around the most common types of warm-season grasses. We don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach because each grass varietal is different. As we mentioned before, Bermuda grass is quite resilient against drought and has different needs than St. Augustine, which is more sensitive to dry conditions. When you trust us to be your lawn care service provider, you can have peace of mind. Our programs will target not only lacking nutrients but also the above diseases and broadleaf weeds!
Get Professional Lawn Service Near Fort Worth
From fertilization to disease control, the lawn care programs at Gro Lawn will restore the vitality and appearance of your turfgrass. We’ve designed a unique program for Bermuda grass, St. Augustine grass, and Zoysia grass. To learn more or schedule a treatment, you can reach out to us through our online contact form here.
Be sure to visit our blog page next month for another informative article on another yard care topic. And don’t forget to check out our Facebook and YouTube accounts, where we post photos of our work and the latest deals!