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Wed, May 9, 12 at 23:40
| Brown areas showed up on my lawn recently. My experience is very limited and would like to hear your opinion. It is mostly noticeable near the driveway.
Currently my watering schedule is 2 x week 15 min per zone. I live in San Francisco Bay Area, type of the grass Elite Plus Fescue. So far I applied the following treatment to my new lawn; Nov 13, 2011 Scott's winter 24-2-12 (3.3 lb per 1100 sq ft) Jan 15, 2012 same Feb 1, 2012 Green Light with Dimension Mar 10, 2012 Scott's (finished the 10 lb bag) Since Jan this year, my lawn looked great but recently I noticed this brown/dead grass. I cut it every week to 3.75 inch. Is it not enough of water or fungus is spreading. Please help. Thank you in advance. Here are few pictures http://s1157.photobucket.com/albums/p599/januwan/grass/
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Follow-Up Postings:
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| Definitely looks fungal to me. Ever notice mycellium on the blades? Fungal disease usually happens quickly, one day the grass looks fine, the next it's collapsing and dying, often in rings or patches. The dying grass is generally not dry, and can have a musty odor to it. Drought stress usually starts with the grass becoming darker, and the blades fold up, giving it a thinner look and if left unwatered it goes brown. What has your weather been like lately? Most fungus occurs in periods of hot humid weather, or many days of rainy, wet conditions. Your watering schedule is not ideal, and you are fertilizing a lot, although I am not completely familiar with the Bay area's climate. Personally I think 3.75 inches is too high for tall fescue, but others on here will tell you it's fine. Here's one study done by Ohio State regarding tall fescue mowing heights. http://buckeyeturf.osu.edu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&i d=1191&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=170 |
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| I lived for a while near the coast (kinda--Portland)in Oregon, and your weather in SF was simular at the time. Even so, I wouldn't presume to give you advice from Ohio, I would sugest you consult a local university turf department. Are you folks still getting daily rain or has the weather pattern changed? |
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| While it is still too early for Brown Patch in San Fran, a related disease, Yellow Patch (aka cool season brown patch) is more common in late summer/spring, especially in cool, wet weather. Most of the conditions for yellow patch are similar: wet turf, over application of nitrogen fertilizers, reduced air movement, etc. Mowing tall fescue to 3.75 inches means that it will probably be 5 or more inches when cut. This will greatly increase the chance of developing yellow patch, especially in a typically cool and wet environment like San Fran in the spring. The link I attached showed that mowing tall fescue lower is a valid cultural practice that will product better turf, that is less likely to be affected by certain diseases. In fact it makes more sense to mow lower in a climate like San Fran anyway where there is less summer stress. To the OP, it's your lawn, you can mow at any height you want, but I personally do not subscribe to the advice of "Mow as high as possible, or on the highest setting." First of all it lacks an actual unit of length. Second, what if my mower goes to 5 inches, should I mow it then? Third, I mow in the range that is recommended by the seed producer, as well as most universities. |
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| Thanks for your info. I live on Peninsula, our climate is different than Portland. Last rain we had few weeks back and it does not get humid in Bay Area. This year we did not get normal amount of rain (12-15 inch per season Nov-April) but much less. Last few days the temperatures were in 70s and those brown patches look really dry. What should be my next move? |
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| I forgot to add, I did not see any mycelium on the blades. |
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| Well you just have to determine if it is fungal, lack of water, or perhaps it's insect damage. I still vote fungus, could be yellow patch, could be something else. While now some of the blades are brown and dry, do you see any others that are yellow, or mottled? If you think it's fungal you can let it run its course, or you could apply a natural preventative like Serenade or Natria, or a good fungicide like Eagle or Heritage G. Most fungal issues this time of year are minor and are fairly self limiting. If it's lack of water, then you know what to do. How is the soil in the area? Can you stick a 6-8 inch screwdriver down into the soil with relative ease? Areas near driveways often dry out first due to the concrete holding heat, but it looks like most of the grass right next to the driveway is OK, which is counterintuitive. If you have trouble with the screwdriver test then you will have to either dig up the area or just make sure you water a bit more there. Insect damage is another possibility. Grubs are the most common culprit, when they eat the roots you get areas of die off, and the areas can usually be lift up easily, like a piece of carpet, so I would check that also. |
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| That's a misconception I've had for 40 yrs dashed. Maybe I'm thinking of the weather in Seatle. |
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