Dead patches of grass are signs that something is wrong.
Get to the root cause for an inviting and healthy lawn.
A thriving lawn is easy to spot from down the street, thanks to its uniform dark green appearance.
Credit:Oskars Bormanis / Getty Images
Unfortunately, brown spots on a lawn also stick out amid all the green.
However, lawns can usually recover with simple care.
Oskars Bormanis / Getty Images
1.
Lawn fertilizer includes salts in addition to valuable nutrients.
Salts in high concentrations are deadly to turf.
Then, drench the area with water to move the salts through the soil and away from plant roots.
If the fertilizer has already killed the grass, drench the soil with water to leach out salts.
If the area is smaller than your fist, you dont need to do anything further.
Nearby grass plants will fill in the dead spot.Reseed with the same key in of grassin larger spots.
Herbicides
Misapplied herbicides are a frequent cause of dead patches.
Perhaps you werespot-spraying weedsand overshot the weedy invader or misfired and sprayed the grass.
Non-selective herbicides, such as glyphosate, kill grass plants within days.
It is essential to use herbicides with extreme caution.
This is rarely effective, but it can lessen the damage.
Reseed large dead patches resulting from herbicide.
Before reseeding, confirm that the herbicide does not contain a preemergent product.
A preemergent prevents grass seed from germinating for a specified period.
Reseed after the preemergent dissipates.
What to do:If the dead patch is smaller than your fist, do nothing.
Nearby grass will fill in the patch.
Reseed larger areas after thoroughly drenching the soil to leach away excess nitrogen.
When the deicing product runs off the pavement, it can concentrate in the soil, burning the lawn.
What to do:Drench the affected area with water to move high salt concentrations through the soil profile.
Reseed as soon as possible in spring.
Limit deicing salt tool as much as possible toprevent salt burn.
Debris Under the Surface
The cause of the dead spot might be under the turf.
The debris under the surface limits root growth, which makes the plant susceptible to weather stress.
What to do:Remove the debris.
Dig up the affected area, removing rocks and construction debris.Backfill with quality topsoiland reseed.
Grassy Weeds
When warm-seasontype of turf grassis invaded by cool-season species and vice versa, seemingly dead patches appear.
The brown patches are clumps of the dormant, non-dominate grass.
The same scenario can play out on a warm-season lawn.
Patch Disease
As its name implies, patch disease produces roughly circular dead areas on a lawn.
triggered by diseases that attack plant roots and stems, patch diseases show up when the lawn is stressed.
What to do:Begin by getting a conclusive diagnosis.
Connect with your local extension service and inquire about turf disease testing.
Mix a couple of handfuls of grass seed with a scoop of garden soil.
Sprinkle the seed and soil mix over the affected area and water lightly.
Keep the area moist until the grass seed germinates.
