Lawn Disease has Conquered Me

Question: Ginny, you have helped me before in the past.  I am desperate again.  Two years ago I had a company lay sod, it had a fungus that turned it brown that year, last year, and this year I have given up. I need help.  The lawn is dead, the worst in the neighborhood. I would like to lay new sod, but don't want the fungus from the present situation to ruin any new grass. Hope you can help!

responder: The Question Asker Replied August 09, 2024, 2:54 PM EDT
response: Ginny, you have helped me in the past. I really need help AGAIN! Two years ago I had sod laid, it was contaminated with a fungus that turned all the grass brown. I have tried, now my third year, to overcome this fungal thing. I have failed. I give up, need major help. I am fearful that laying new sod will only be contaminated by the present dirt, etc. Can you help with advice, steer me towards knowledgeable assistance? Please, and thank you.

responder: An Ask Extension Expert Replied August 12, 2024, 9:02 AM EDT
response: Hi Robert, Any time you purchase sod, it has the turf type tall fescue grass that you want, but that grass is a ‘bunch grass’, it is like a bouquet of grass, so they need to also add a grass that has roots that will spread outwards to hold the tall fescue together when it is cut as sod. The grass that is used is blue grass which thrives in north western Maryland, and the other cooler states, but with our hot and muggy Maryland weather, the blue grass dies from a variety of diseases. The only disease that turf type tall fescue gets is brown patch and if you only fertilize it in the late fall, it will never get that disease. If you have a company that fertilizes the lawn in the spring, summer and fall, the turf type tall fescue will succumb to brown patch. A healthy lawn will usually come back in the late fall from brown patch and I am a bit surprised it did not, but then you wrote that this is the third year, so maybe the lawn came back a bit. Looking at your lawn now, I see mostly dead grass and what looks like crab grass. Do you have an irrigation system? I know of a lot of lawns that did not make it this summer after growing well last fall, but a newly sod lawn takes a few years to get truly established and if the lawn is not watered enough to get the water to go down at least 3 inches into the soil, the roots will stay on top of the soil and with the 90+ degrees of heat we had in June, July and August, no plants can survive that heat and lack of water. I would not suggest getting more sod, but making sure that your irrigation system will provide the water that a lawn will need. Sometimes the timing of the irrigation needs to be longer and sometimes it needs to be turned on about 20 minutes after watering to water a second time. The first time will get the soil wet down 1-2 inches and the second watering (it is called pulse irrigation) will allow the water to go through the first 1-2 inches and into the 3rd inch of soil. The roots always follow the water and the deeper the roots can be, the healthier they will be as they will be cooler in the heat of summer! Autumn is a wonderful time to overseed your lawn. Here is the link to a great fact sheet on lawn renovation and overseeding. https://extension.umd.edu/resource/lawn-renovation-and-overseeding/ This will only work if you have an irrigation system that can apply water for at least 30 minutes, so that adequate water will be absorbed by the soil and allow the roots to grow down into the soil profile instead of staying up close to the surface.   Ginny

responder: The Question Asker Replied August 12, 2024, 9:25 AM EDT
response: Ginny, thank you for the lengthy response. Unfortunately it doesn't help me. Yes, I have a fine irrigation system, I know how to water, yes, the fungus I referred to, maybe incorrectly is brown patch. I stopped watering my lawn about a month ago when it turned to want you see now. Maybe my question should be, how can one proceed with brown patch. I did reseed last fall, successfully. It grew beautifully last fall and again this spring. The brown patch returned. How can I proceed with this brown patch on the lawn? Thank you, Robert  On Mon, Aug 12, 2024, 9:02 AM Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:

responder: Answered by the Home and Garden Information Center (HGIC), University of Maryland Extension. For timely gardening information and tips, subscribe to our Maryland Grows blog and quarterly newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Replied August 12, 2024, 2:25 PM EDT
response: Hello Robert,  Lawn care companies might have access to fungicides that can suppress Brown Patch, but it cannot cure any existing disease. As Ginny implied, we don't usually see outbreaks of this disease during drought conditions, though your region has had less drought overall than other parts of Maryland thus far this year. Turf infections can be very difficult to diagnose from photos, though you can use the information on the linked resource to look for the leaf lesions and mycelium growth (after the blades have been wet for a while by rain, dew, or irrigation) pictured on that page. If not present, a factor other than Brown Patch may be responsible for lawn dieback, or more than one condition is overlapping and causing damage.  If a fungicide were used as a preventative, it would need application before symptoms arose each year, and several repeat applications afterwards. That might be costly when the disease makes lawns temporarily aesthetically unappealing but otherwise rarely kills them, since the infection does not progress into the crown (central growth points at the soil surface) or turf roots for tall fescue, meaning it can recover on its own if not otherwise also damaged by drought or other environmental stressors. Fungicide use, especially when it may need to be applied to an entire lawn, might also risk harmful impacts on other organisms, including beneficial soil fungi, predacious insects that consume lawn pests, and ground-nesting bees.  Our recommendations regarding Brown Patch management are preventative approaches by way of annual overseeding with proven tall fescue cultivars (the 2024 version of the recommended cultivars list will be ready soon), avoiding excessive irrigation (beyond what is needed to keep heat-dormant turf crowns and roots alive), and as Ginny mentioned, avoiding over-fertilization. Rhizoctonia fungi (the fungus causing this disease) are ubiquitous in our region, so eradication of any spores in the soil is not feasible, and spores could always blow into an area in the future even if eradication efforts were successful, which is why we focus on prevention and using grasses that are as inherently resistant to infection as possible.  Miri

responder: The Question Asker Replied August 12, 2024, 5:44 PM EDT
response: Even though doesn't sound very hopeful, I thank you for the response.  I need to ask if you could refer me to anyone or a company that could help me with this?   Thank you for this consideration,  Robert

responder: Answered by the Home and Garden Information Center (HGIC), University of Maryland Extension. For timely gardening information and tips, subscribe to our Maryland Grows blog and quarterly newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Replied August 13, 2024, 8:56 AM EDT
response: You're welcome. Extension doesn't collect information about lawn or landscape companies, nor do we recommend particular businesses, so unfortunately we can't refer you to any specific candidates. If useful, the joint publication between Extension and the MD Dept. of Agriculture (the agency that regulates landscapers and lawn companies, plus commercial pesticide and fertilizer applicators) may be of help regarding how to choose a lawn care service (see link).  Miri

responder: An Ask Extension Expert Replied August 13, 2024, 2:45 PM EDT
response: HI Robert, As Miri mentioned, we don't recommend any specific business, but Maryland Department of Agriculture does have a list of certified lawn care professionals. https://mda.maryland.gov/Pages/fertilizer.aspx  https://mda.maryland.gov/SiteAssets/Pages/fertilizer/CertifiedLawnCarePros.pdf