Brown Spots In Lawn

[Turfman]

Could be a fungus, could be a bug. Bugs generally eat in irregular patterns and the brown grass lifts out easily. Fungus will kill out in spots and will be very generalized (spread thoughout the area).

Dog spots will have a dead spot with a very actively growing dark green ring around them. The salts in the doggy stuff kill the spot, but the dark green is from the fertilizer in it. Leaching it out will help move the salts from the root zone.

Fairy rings look like doggy spots, but the centers generally still have a very light green appearance in the early stages. Decaying organic matter causes them. A piece of wood, etc. will cause it. Removing the organic matter and placing new sod down will fix that. They can be any size, depending on the size of the organic matter. I say one a few feet across, with a 18 inch piece of plywood 6 inches under the lawn.

Overwatering will cause the lawn to yellow out all over as it depletes the nitrogen in the soil.

More information on the appearance of the spots would be helpful.

Turfman

 

[MReeter]

Moss,For sure a Fungus,too much water and warmer temps. will bring it on.Too much water will also not give the grass time to root down to deeper moisture.The grass will get used to the daily drink and become lazy,it will only grow up and out,not down.

Once a week watering is plenty,some times too much is not a good thing.

 

[MossRoad]

I tried telling him that the grass will get deeper roots if he waters for longer periods, but less often. Instead of a half hour every day, maybe an hour and a half every third day. But he is from the old school of standing on your lawn with a hose every evening after work and watering by hand. He got the sprinkler system with automatic timer, but he runs it manually. He likes to be in control of it. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

If I remember, I'll take the camera over there this weekend and take some pictures of it.