Ready for rain?
The rainy season is a big help when it comes to lawn care in Southwest Florida.
It also can cause headaches.
The switch in Florida seasons means a change in how much you water your lawn, and the key is making sure you aren’t overwatering.
Why should you be concerned about too much water? Fungus.
Excessive rain and overwatering could cause fungal diseases in your lawn. When a fungal disease does affect your lawn, treating the disease could be difficult unless you know how to identify the disease and understand the cause behind it. With proper lawn maintenance and care, you can prevent and resolve fungal diseases. At Coastal Irrigation, we can spot fungal diseases before they become a bigger, costlier issue and help you determine if you are overwatering.
Lawn Fungal Diseases: Identifying Causes and Types
Lawn fungal diseases take on a variety of forms, from dead-looking patches to highly visible rings, threads, spots, or sometimes slimes. Fungi won’t grow without moisture, which may come from rainy weather, inadequate drainage, or overwatering.
Common fungal diseases that can affect Southwest Florida lawns are:
Brown Patch: Brown patch is a fungal disease that can be pretty severe for your yard and landscaping. Circles of yellow or brown dead, sunken grass that can vary in size, is the most common sign of brown patch disease. Periods of high rain and humidity, overfertilizing, and excess water will increase the disease’s severity.
Root Rot: Root rot affects the roots first and will eventually spread to your entire yard. A common sign of this disease is yellow grass blades and brown roots. Turf areas that remain wet or are overwatered are prone to this disease. Roof spot is usually hard to identify unless you are a lawn care professional. If you suspect roof rot in your grass, call Coastal Irrigation to get a better analysis.
Leaf Spot Fungus: When your grass is afflicted by leaf spot, the grass blades will develop small, bleached out spots with dark brown edges. Dark brown oval spots will appear in different areas of your yard, and the grass will thin and eventually die out. Warm temperatures, overwatering, and mowing the grass too short will support the disease. Leaf spot fungus can also set the stage for more serious fungal diseases to develop.
Dollar Spot: This disease will create yellowish-tan silver-dollar size circles that will eventually merge into large irregular blocks. Dollar spot thrives when the days are warm and humid. Excessive watering, under fertilizing, and thatch will contribute to the growth of dollar spot fungal disease.
How to Prevent Lawn and Grass Disease
A simple change in your lawn care practices could be enough to prevent fungal diseases from forming. But sometimes changing your lawn care maintenance isn’t enough to fight nature. When excessive rain or a summer heatwave hit, fungal diseases can be more common. You can’t control the weather, but there are steps you can take to help your grass healthy in times of excessive rain or drought.
- Know When to Water – Watering your yard every day usually isn’t necessary. Giving the soil time to dry out after watering will encourage deep and stronger root growth and thick grass coverage. Overwatering your grass will only make it more susceptible to fungal growth and disease.
- Have Proper Drainage – Puddles and stagnant water in your yard will encourage fungus growth. Proper drainage ensures that water can quickly move out of the lawn and so that it won’t cause issues.
- Call a Professional at First Sign of Fungus – A professional will know exactly what disease you are dealing with and how to treat it. When the correct treatment isn’t done, you could end up with a fungal disease issue that spreads.
Lawn fungus and disease is a common problem, especially in Southwest Florida’s climate. With the help of Coastal Irrigation, we can keep your yard looking healthy and beyond the reach of fungal disease. Call Coastal Irrigation today to ensure overwatering isn’t causing an issue for your landscaping!
