Ever walk into your stunning lawn, gaze over to horizon across fields of green only to be met with amber waves of brown? Lawn brown spots – patches of dead grass rising up as plant zombies betwixt your award-winning green scape (hey – self-award-winning counts). What causes these landscaping nightmares, how do they just seem to appear in the same fashion as your mother-in-law (and just as annoying), and how do you handle them? We got some landscaper insight into lawn brown spots.
What causes Lawn Brown Spots
So let’s talk about what causes these pesky areas of dead grass in your otherwise picture-perfect lawn. First off – take heart. You’re not alone. Brown spots are common in most yards (except those who hired Brennan’s Landscaping for turf management of course). The key component in combating these less-than-green areas is narrowing down the cause. Below we’ll address the most common causes of brown spots.
Fungus Causing Brown Spots in your Yard
Gross, but yes – your yard is susceptible to fungal infections. These patches will be irregular and typically appear after rainy weather or stretches of high humidity which is the perfect mixture for fungal heaven. They may also appear as brown circles around patches of healthy grass meaning that the grass in the center of the dead spot has probably recovered and is growing healthy again, but you’re still left with the underlying (and now expanding) issue. Addressing the fungus with various lawn care treatments should solve this problem and get your lawn back to lush.
Grubbin’ it Up
Grubs are another nasty cause of lawn brown spots and dead grass since they survive by eating the roots of healthy, growing grass blades. To differentiate between a brown spot caused by fungus or by grubs, these spots will feel spongy and when rakes, will pull up the grass in patches since their weakened roots won’t support the grass in the ground. While you can wage war on grubs at any time of the year, fall is best to take on these little landscaping parasites.
See Spot Make Spots
Addressed in a previous blog post on dogs and lawn issues, the culprit may be the four-legged furry friend. Pet urine and gorgeous grass rarely find themselves in the same sentence unless separated by the words “will absolutely destroy.” Dog urine contains high amounts of nitrogen which can be a lawn killer. To find out if Fido is doing a number by going number 1, watch what he does when you let him out. These brown spots with be brown surrounded by a ring of dark green grass.
Weed Dieback
Invasive grasses like crabgrass and bluegrass and weeds that you didn’t want in your lawn anyways tend to die off at different times of the year leaving behind week dieback – brown spots where the grasses were once growing. Proper lawn maintenance will rid your yard of these problem children and leave your lawn green all season long. Hey – did you know that Brennan’s offers landscaping spring cleanup!
Whatever the cause – the solution is simple. You can either tackle it yourself or call a professional landscaping company to deal with the headache for you. The key here is figuring out what exactly is going on and then to address it accordingly.