Brown patches and bare spots are one
of the great annoyances in lawn care. Not only do they look bad, they are an
invitation for weeds to set up shop in your lawn. Fortunately, with a little
effort on your part, these trouble spots can be fixed. Even better, you can take
steps to make sure they don’t return.
Before you can fix the problem, you
need to determine what caused it in the first place. Here are some of the common
causes of patchy lawns and how to deal with them.
Too Much Fertilizer
That’s right, too much fertilizer in
one spot can actually burn the grass and result in big brown patches. The cure?
Well, there really isn’t a fast fix for this problem. The good news is that
excess nitrogen (the typical cause of fertilizer burn) leaches out of the soil
fairly quickly, so start by watering the brown spot thoroughly. After about a
month, try putting out new grass seed.
In the long term, you may be better
off using a liquid or organic fertilizer. You can also try cutting back on
fertilizer and adding nitrogen in other ways, like leaving grass clippings on
the lawn to decompose.
Animals
Has the neighbor’s dog been, err,
“visiting” your lawn? The resulting patches are actually caused by the same
problem as fertilizer burn – too much nitrogen. The short-term cure is also the
same: water the spot thoroughly to leach out the nitrogen, and then re-seed. If
you really soak the lawn right after the dog is done, you may be able to prevent
the grass from burning in the first place.
To keep this problem from happening
again, you should have a word with the dog’s owner. If the visits persist or you
can’t identify the guilty party, a good strong fence may be the best way to go.
Foot Traffic
If your brown patches look more like
brown paths, then maybe friends, family and visitors have been taking short-cuts
through your lawn! This can cause problems even if the traffic occurs in the
middle of winter, because the soil compacts from all that walking and then water
can’t get to the grass roots.
You can fix this problem by aerating the soil. If the area
is very small, just stick a garden fork into the soil several times to loosen up
the thatch and ground.
Another solution is to have your entire lawn professionally
aerated once or twice a year.
Over the long term, the best way to
prevent traffic on your lawn is to lay out clear pathways, so that visitors can
see where to walk. There’s the added benefit that a well-laid pathway will add
beauty and value to your lawn.
Too Much Water
If you get a little over-enthusiastic
about watering your lawn, you can end up killing your grass with kindness. Too
much water will drown the roots and rot them, causing dead spots in the grass.
To fix a dead patch caused by
overwatering, first try to figure out why there’s too much water in that spot.
Does the lawn slope down and naturally drain to that area? Is something
preventing the water from draining away? Perhaps installing a drainage pipe is
the way to go. Once the spot has dried out, re-seed and keep an eye on the area
to be sure it’s no longer turning into a bog.
Disease
The lawn disease known as “Brown
Patch” is caused by a common fungus. This fungus can exist in the soil without
any symptoms for years, since the grass will not react until it becomes stressed
from one cause or another. When Brown Patch does appear, it takes the form of
small brown spots that rapidly enlarge in warm weather. The patch will be shaped
like a ring surrounding healthy green grass.
The only way to confirm that your
problem is caused by Brown Patch is to have the grass tested. Most county
Extension offices can help you with this. Once your diagnosis is confirmed,
apply a fungicide to the affected area and the problem should clear up.
You can never completely eliminate the
fungus that causes Brown Patch, as it lives deep in the soil. When the grass has
recovered, the best way to keep the patches from returning is to keep your grass
from becoming stressed again. Proper application of fertilizer and regular
watering will keep your lawn healthy and happy.
