Diagnose My Lawn

Brown patch, which is caused by Rhizoctonia fungi, is one of the most common lawn diseases you’ll see in cool-season grasses, but it can also affect many warm-season grasses too.

The best way to prevent brown patch is to avoid overfertilizing or overwatering your lawn, as these can cause the fungus to form and spread more rapidly.

Pythium blight initially shows itself as 1- to 3-inch orange-colored spots on your lawn. In some cases, the outer edges of these spots have light-gray rings early in the morning. As humidity remains high, the spots will start growing cobweb-like fluffy masses of mycelium.

The best way to combat Pythium blight without replacing your lawn is to have us apply a fungicide application! If you have a consistent issue with Pythium blight, consider adding a fungicide application to your yearly package to help prevent the damage!

When your turf gets pink snow mold, it will become matted or turn straw-colored and form a white- or pink-colored cobweb-like coating. This generally occurs in the early spring after the snow has melted but can occur anytime the temperature and humidity is right.
To accelerate the recovery, we will gently rake the area to aerate the grass then allow it to dry out. Once the grass is dry and has been mowed several times, we will rake out any thatch and continue mowing at a shorter-than-normal length until the mold has subsided.

If pink snow mold is a yearly issue for you, have us apply a fungicide just as the last snowfall melts for the year!

You can identify gray snow mold by its straw- or gray-colored infection centers that are generally 6-12 inches wide. The telltale sign of gray snow mold versus pink snow mold is the turf is matted down by a grayish mycelium, which is a cobweb-like material.

Your turf will regreen as the temperatures warm and the fungus dries out. If you want to expedite the process, we will lightly rake the infected area to aerate the grass and mow as normal.

Summer patch is a nasty summertime disease caused by Magnaporthe poae fungi that affects mostly cool-season grasses. The fungus starts its process in the late spring or early summer, but you likely won’t notice the damage until the grass is under its highest stress in late summer. Once the damage starts showing in late summer, there is little you can do, which is why prevention is critical.

Once you notice the 2-inch dark-green wilted patches, the fungus has already started its path of destruction, and there are no chemical treatments we can apply. The action we can take is to increase your irrigation to help your lawn recover.

While necrotic ring spot, which is caused by the Ophiosphaerella korrae fungus, is a severe condition to any lawn, it is particularly harmful to Kentucky bluegrass. The fungus feeds on the soil, thatch and dead leaves in your yard and kills your lawn’s root system in the process.

Necrotic ring spot generally shows up in the cooler, wet months of spring or fall.

The preferred method for controlling necrotic ring spot is with maintenance. This includes frequent aeration to ensure deep root growth, proper irrigation and a balanced nitrogen fertilization program.

Irregular yellow patches of grass in your yard are telltale signs of rust disease. You can also check the individual blades of grass and find small yellow flecks. As the disease takes hold, these fleck rupture and cover the grass is a light-yellow powder that rubs off on your shoes and pants as you walk through your yard.

The initial correction process for rust disease is through maintenance. Fertilize and water your lawn as recommended. This should be all you need, but if things don’t improve in about three weeks, you may have to resort to have us do a fungicide application!

Red thread, which is caused by the fungus Laetisaria fuciformis, thrives in climates that offer warm days and cool, moist evenings, making yards in northern states (such as ohio) frequent victims of this unsightly disease. While red thread generally doesn’t harm your lawn directly, it does make it susceptible to other diseases and pests, so ridding your turf of it will help keep things green.

We don’t recommend treating red thread chemically, as it’s simple to control by strengthening your existing lawn. Fertilization with nitrogen and keeping your soil aerated over the course of about two years, the red thread will thin out and disappear.

Slime mold, which is generally from fungi in the genera Mucilaga or Physarum, may not be overly harmful to your lawn, but it creates odd patches of discoloration that stand out in your otherwise-green lawn. Ridding your lawn of this disease will get it back to its lush, even appearance.

Slime mold won’t harm your grass, but it’s still an eyesore. You can rectify it by letting nature run its course. If you have a significant infestation that you want to get rid of, you can rake it out or spray it off with moderate water pressure.

Though it won’t impact your turf’s health or transmit to other plants, powdery mildew is not attractive, so obliterating it may be in your best interest. There are many fungicides we can apply to help mitigate the unsightly disease!

There are three types of fairy rings, but only one type has a lasting negative impact on your yard. These harmful fairy rings are unmistakable. The harmful ones are large, irregular rings strewn throughout your yard. They can range from dark green to a tan color but the real telltale signs are puffballs or mushrooms appearing along the ring.

In residential yards, a fungicide is rarely a necessity, usually our fertilizer applications with nitrogen can improve the turf

Some fungicides can kill the fungus and accelerate the recovery process, so let Wernert Lawn care help you!

Gray leaf spot is harder to detect in cool-season grasses, as they generally don’t show spots. Instead, the disease shows as small pinprick lesions. If left untreated, these lesions quickly turn water-soaked and progress to twisted necrotic leaf tips. The first step in controlling gray leaf spot is getting back to normal maintenance.

Dog spot isn’t a fungus, nor is it a disease. It is, however, an unsightly and often misunderstood lawn issue. It’s no mystery that dog urine kills grass, but what is a mystery is why it kills the grass. Some claim it’s the pH that kills it, but this is untrue. What kills the grass is the high nitrogen content in the urine. Much like over fertilizing, this high nitrogen content burns the grass.

Preventing leaf spot is as easy as mowing at the correct height and proper fertilization. This creates a thick, lush lawn that’s resilient if leaf spot appears. Wernert Lawn Care is happy to help bring your lawn back to life with our specialized fungicides.