Need help identifying these spots on my Bermuda?

15 years ago

I have some brown spots in my Bermuda Grass. The grass was sodded about 5 years ago and the spots have become more frequent and bigger over the last few years. Not sure if this is relevant but they seem to only occur on the hill in my backyard. These pictures are taken facing South, towards the hill.

Here is a close-up and wide angle view of the spots.

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn270/will_nc/Grass-wide-view.jpg

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn270/will_nc/grass-closeup.jpg

Any help identifying these is much appreciated. Also, how to treat the spots would also be great.

I'm in NC in zone seven.

Thanks,

Will

Featured Answer

will_nc
Original Author

15 years ago

Thanks for the postings and I wanted to update the status.

In early June I put down a good dose of Milogranite. Following this grass began to creep over the dead spots but it was literally short lived. In another few weeks it had died again. I guess when the sprawling grass sunk it's roots deep enough it hit the zone where Spring Dead Spot lives, below the surface, killing it.

Per the SDS link from FirstAndGoal, I applied a fungicide in mid-September along with another round of Milogranite and again grass is sprawling across the dead spots. It has been a few weeks so maybe things are better. But it is definitely not completely gone. Per the article this will be a long battle. I'll probably apply another does of the fungicide in the next week or two. In case your wondering, I used Scott's Lawn Fungus Control.

Thanks again for the help.
Will_NC

P.S. Here is a pic of one of the spots, you can see the newer grass in a circle where the dead spot was. Not all the dead spots have this much grass.
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Here is wider view of the back yard.
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Comments (6)

arjo_reich
15 years ago
Here are the displayed images of your previous post. When posting images, to make them show up you have to embed them in HTML tags.

e.g.
<img src="http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn270/will_nc/grass-closeup.jpg">;
{{gwi:93657}}

<img src="http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn270/will_nc/Grass-wide-view.jpg">;
{{gwi:93658}}
arjo_reich
15 years ago
OK, definitely not an expert but my first gut reaction is nitrogen burns by way or urine... or perhaps grubs?
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decklap
15 years ago
The spots that have green centers or "frogs eyes" incline me to say that you've got necrotic ring spot. Its hard to deal with. It shows up on sod installs after 2-3 years and can hang on for many years.
firstandgoal
15 years ago
It looks like Spring Dead Spot to me. I do not think it is winter kill.

Google Spring Dead Spot to read more about it. You may have to remove the grass and soil about 7-8 inches deep, and 7-8 inches out from the damaged areas and replace the soil and lay new sod in the spots and then top dress the patched areas with sand, if fall fungicide control does not work. I linked one article below.

Here is a link that might be useful: SDS
reelman
15 years ago
Try applying a heavy dose of milorganite and waiting for a good rain. It should repair it in 2 to 4 weeks after application. Milorganite has more iron content than ironite which is good at getting rid of brown patches. The slow release nitrogen will remove most of your dead grass and thatch and thicken your bermuda with fresh new growth. I use a drop spreader on my bermuda lawn. It has a strong smell that last about a week, but it is organic.