brown patch

Caterpillars In The Lawn: Sod Web Worms and Army Worms are eating lawns right now. Signs of this pest are areas in your lawn not growing like the rest of the yard and the grass blades have chew marks or are eaten down to the nub. Also, flocks of birds in your yard feeding is another sign. Use Cyonara Hose-End for a quick kill, or Thuricide for organic control. Reapply as needed.

Landscape Watering: It’s always better to water your plants and lawn during the first half of the day, anywhere from 1 or 2 a.m. in the morning through to 10 a.m. in the morning, when the city require all sprinklers be turned off. Early morning watering is best because winds are the lowest, temperatures are the lowest and humidity is the highest, allowing for less water evaporation and runoff. And remember, city rules state we can (and should) only water our landscape one day a week. You can use a tuna fish can to measure how much water you’re getting out with your sprinkler. Texas A&M recommends clay loam soils get one inch of water once a week.

Brown Patch Fungus is also active after all the recent rains. To avoid cosmetic damage, spread Bayer Fungus Granules or F-Stop to the lawn. If the fungus is not present, and you’ve had fungus issues in the past, you can apply as a preventative. Disease is always easier to prevent than cure. Fertilome Liquid Systemic Fungicide II can also be sprayed to areas that are suspicious and just beginning. Spray two feet beyond infected areas and re-apply after heavy rains, or as the area appears to be growing. Fungus will remain active through the fall and winter with shorter days, damp nights and rain with cold fronts. Nature’s Blend organic compost spread over the areas will also help prevent, and will aid the area in recovering quicker from the damage. If you don’t choose to treat through the fall and winter, your lawn will recover on its own in spring.

Care For Succulents In The Fall: As our days shorten and cool, your succulents will need less water and no fertilizer until spring. Watch for hungry caterpilla

Brown Patch Fungus In Lawns

With all the recent rains, cool nights and shorter days, lawns are prone to get fungus. Circular brown patches appear with some green blades in center of the patch, and a thin band of subtle rusty red at the outer edge. If you tug on the rusty red blades at the edge and they pull off the runner easily and look like rotting old celery at the base, then you have fungus. We carry Fertilome Liquid Systemic Fungicide hose-end, Bayer Lawn Fungus Granules, or Fertilome F-Stop Granules. For an organic treatment, use Serenade, or Nature’s Blend compost. You will need to re-treat if the weather conditions and symptoms persist. Be aware these problem areas can grow quickly, so prompt treatment is needed to maintain an attractive lawn.

Fire Ants

With the recent rains fire ants have emerged. Their underground homes are flooded so they move to higher ground, and also into your potted plants. They can be controlled by either a contact insecticide or a bait. Doing both increases your chances of reducing their populations. They call it the Texas Two Step. Contact kills include Bonide Pyrethrin,Medina Orange Oil, and Natural Guard Spinosad mixed with water and used as a mound or potted plant drench, or Orthene Fire Ant Killer sprinkled gently over the mound. Baits include Amdro Ant Block orFertilome Come and Get it. Sprinkle these baits out lightly in the morning and early evening while the ants are foraging. A little along their trail or around the mounds in the morning and then a little more in the evening works best. Do not apply too much at once. Ants are smart and will know to leave the granules alone. Trick them with a little at a time.

You may have already done several items on this list, but with all the recent rains they may have been depleted or washed away, therefore another application may be necessary.

Fertilize the lawn, shrubs, trees and tropicals again with Gill Lawn & Garden or Milorganite.
Continue to feed vegetables and herbs with Espoma Plant Tone. Citrus and fruit trees with Espoma Citrus Tone.
Apply pre-emergent again to prevent weeds, Amaze or Dimension.
Spray post-emergent again or as needed to kill existing weeds, Weed b gon or Image. You could also keep the weeds mowed before they go to seed. Most will die with the heat.
Drench Hackberry trees for wooly aphids, bougainvillea for caterpillars, hibiscus and jatropha for mealybugs etc.. with Bayer Protect and Feed to prevent insects for 9 months.
Treat the lawn with Bayer Season Long Grub Control or Beneficial Nematodes.
Watch for Chinch bug activity in the hot dry spots of the lawn near sidewalks and driveways. Spray with Cyonara or Triazicide. For organic control use Spinosad or Diatomaceous Earth.
Treat for fungus. Check the lawn for brown patch. Roses, Crape Myrtles and Gerbera Daisies for powdery mildew and Plumeria for rust. Use F-stop, Serenade or Actinovate for the lawn and Fertilome Systemic , Serenade or Actinovate for plants.
Plant sun or shade loving heat tolerant flowers and tropicals.
Mulch everything including potted plants to prevent weeds and hold moisture for the summer.

-DeAnna

We’ve covered organic fertilizers and organic insecticides. This week we will talk about organic fungicides. Serenade Garden Disease Control can be used on roses, vegetables, fruits, flowering plants, trees, shrubs and lawns. Use prior to disease development or at the first sign of foliar disease infection. Serenade prevents and controls black spot, leaf spot, powdery mildew, anthracnose, gray mold, scab and early blight. With all the recent rains black spot and powdery mildew are a problem, especially on roses. Actinovate and Actino-iron are also organic fungicides used for soil borne pl ant root rot and damping off fungi. Can be used to control diseases on vegetables, roses, trees, shrubs and lawns. It is a must for the control of phytophthera fungus which kills periwinkles. Actino-iron can be worked into the soil prior to planting or Actinovate can be mixed with water and sprayed or drenched around your flowers to prevent disease after planting and through the growing season. Horticultural Cornmeal is another natural substance that stimulates beneficial microorganisms to feed on pathogens such as brown patch in St. Augustine, damping off in seedlings, phytophthera and other fungal diseases. It also helps to build the soil. Remember all diseases are easier to prevent than to cure. Isn’t there an old saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”.

-DeAnna

Watch this video from James to help you identify & prevent Brown Patch Fungus. With shorter days and cooler, damp nights, your lawn is susceptible to this disease.

How to heal your lawn from a long summer: identify and treat damage from Chinch Bugs and Sod Webworms; apply pre-emergent to prevent weeds; fertilize in fall for healthy roots come spring.

Also, keep an eye out for the fungus among us. Watch James’ video on Brown Patch Fungus for more info.

If you are ever unsure, just dig up a chunk of the problem area and bring it in to us for help with a diagnosis.

Further reading: Top Five Tips for a Beautiful Lawn.

Take-All Root Rot (TARR), or Take-All Patch, is a serious fungal disease affecting St. Augustine and Bermuda grass lawns in the Coastal Bend. I have diagnosed 4 cases in the last 7 days, with lawn damage ranging from a few small dead spots up to an 80% dead lawn overrun by weeds, which last year was a great source of pride to the now-dismayed owner.

High soil pH, soil compaction, too much or too little fertilizer, too much or too little irrigation, or herbicide injury are all stress factors that can make lawns more susceptible to TARR. TARR is related to but different from Large Patch (Brown Patch), which we commonly see in Fall and Winter. Large Patch results in temporary brown roughly circular patches during Winter but the lawn revives in Spring, whereas TARR kills roots and runners completely and the lawn will not recover on its own.

TARR, like Large Patch, can be spread by mowers, foot traffic, birds, and wind. TARR cannot be cured or eliminated, but it can be suppressed by cultural practices or by fungicide use. We prefer to treat organically by spreading one 3.8 cubic foot bale of Canadian peat moss over 1000 square feet of lawn in October or November, followed in March by Natures Blend compost at one bag per 50 square feet of lawn. We have had good results in restoring lawns with this method. Or you can choose to apply Fertilome F-Stop fungicide granules in October, November, December, and January, once a month. For patches 3 feet across or more, I recommend plugging Floratam St. Augustine into the dead areas, with a little Natures Blend compost beneath and on top.

First visual symptoms of TARR are yellow patches or strips, followed by thinning brown patches of lawn with a few unhealthy tufts of green, showing some dead brown runners and darkened, weak, unhealthy roots. Confirmation of TARR requires a microscope to observe a network of black filaments running over the surface of infected stolons (runners). Bring in a sample of diseased but still living runners (not completely brown and dead), and we can advise you on best cultural practices to have the best lawn possible.

– James Gill

Brown patch/Large patch fungus and Take-all Root Rot (TARR) are two unwelcome Fall and Winter visitors to our South Texas lawns. Cool nighttime temperatures and moisture on the grass from rain, dew, or excessive watering frequency are the two main factors promoting these diseases. Large patch is relatively easy to diagnose visually if you are familiar with the symptoms. TARR has more subtle and varying symptoms and requires 60x or greater magnification to positively ID. Large patch is an unsightly annoyance for Fall and Winter, but damaged grass will regrow in Spring. TARR does not show much damage while the disease is spreading over Winter, but when hot temperatures arrive in Summer, the weakened roots and runners are unable to support the water requirements of the infected areas, and they decline or die.

There is no “curing” or eliminating these diseases, but you can attempt to prevent them, or manage them, by various means. Culturally, you should “goldilocks” your lawn: not too much water, not too little, but just right. Water deeply when needed to avoid drought stress but keep the frequency of application to a minimum. Mow as often as needed. Do not let grass grow too tall, but do not cut it too short. Fertilize according to recommended timing and quantity, not too much or too little. If you see a fungus damaged area, mow it last to minimize spreading into healthy areas. Keep mower blades sharp, so grass is cleanly sliced rather than ripped with slower-healing ragged edges. Any stresses make the lawn more vulnerable to infection by a harmful fungus.

We have fungicides that can help prevent or suppress harmful fungus, but keep in mind that there are also beneficial fungal organisms that recycle dead organic matter into plant nutrients and help prevent thatch. So excessive fungicide use, like most excesses, can cause new problems. My personal recommendation is to let large patch fungus run its course, as it does no permanent damage, just temporary unsightliness. But I recommend topdressing TARR infected lawns with peat moss, to control (can’t eliminate) the disease, as the damage is permanent. Best is for you to bring in some samples (still alive but with symptoms) and photos for us to look at, and offer to you various courses of action, for you to choose whatever approach you are most comfortable with.

-James

brown patch

Brown Patch Fungus In Lawns

Fire Ants

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