What causes a circle of dead lawn grass?

[Fuddyduddy1952]

I our front yard is a 20 foot diameter circle of dead grass, about 6" across. It may be hard to see in picture but you clearly see in foreground dead lawn and it's really almost a perfect circle.
I've had my soil tested by agricultural laboratory and it came back excellent except a little high in nitrogen. Rest of lawn (over an acre) is fine. Septic lines and tank is way away in back yard. No underground wires, phone, AC, pipes, etc.
Over the years any bare spot I lightly raked, seeded, then thin layer of potting soil, straw on top & it does great.
I've seeded this, doesn't help. Any idea what causes this? It's weird. (Aliens? ).

 

[/pine]

How long have you lived there?...it almost looks like there could have been an above ground pool there ?

 

[RjCorazza]

I've seen dark green circles that are caused by fungus growth on abundant organic matter. In my area they're called fairy circles. If there was ever a tree in that spot I would guess fungus, but the fungus will grow outwards in a circle regardless.
Also could be a buried structure? Maybe the foundation of an old silo?

 

[MossRoad]

There are fairy rings that are fungus, but they are usually greener than the grass, not dead grass.

My 1st guess would be someone turned around while dripping/spilling weed killer.

When we 1st bought our 20 acres back around 1989, it was a farm field. All sand. There was an almost perfect circle about 30’ in diameter where nothing would grow except one type of weedy grass. Outside of the circle, any and all types of weeds and grasses would grow. Inside that circle, only 1. It took a good 5-6 years before anything else would grow there.

Our conclusion was that the farmer over-applied weed control while turning a circle or two.

 

[Raul-02]

What causes a circle of dead lawn grass?​

20 foot diameter circle of dead grass,

Crane Flies their grubs more precisely Bayer Bioadvanced 24 hour grub killer plus

 

[Hay Dude]

Was there a farm on your property?
The circle looks slightly proud of the lawn.
My guess is a silo or maybe a circular pool/fountain foundation

 

[duffer]

At first glance I was going to say grubs too, but since it's almost a perfect circle, that kind of DQ's grubs. I'm leaning more in the camp of spilled weed killer, or a hydraulic leak while turning around.

How long has the circle been there? Just this year, 5 years, what?

If it's been there (and hasn't grown in size) for more than a year, I would get a probe and see if RJ isn't right with his "buried foundation" suggestion.

 

[bobmisi]

From my experience it is dollar spot or brown patch or something similar and you need to treat it with a fungicide. May take more than one treatment. It can be spread to other areas of your lawn by just mowing. I prefer liquid treatment to granular.

 

[grsthegreat]

You guys are all wrong

 

[MossRoad]

You guys are all wrongView attachment 758228

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

Hopefully I can answer all questions in one reply, and why I'm so mystified.
I've had this place 42 years. This just happened a few weeks ago. I found a picture I took of this general area about a month ago, circle in question is below red arrow. As you see...no circle there then.
Yes, before I bought it it was a small 40+ acre farm...cows, few horses, chickens, etc.
Never a silo or pool, etc there or anywhere on the place. We've had rains so I mow at least once a week. I always change mowing pattern a bit and usually get grass clippings up next day. No chemical/fuel/fluid spills ever.
Trees never planted there, none there even 42 years ago. Never a fence there.
Over the years of course I have run out of gas, had to refill mower, but never that area. I'm careful but have spilled a small amount which you can see a little spot days later.
It makes no sense.
Yes I have seen fairy ring mushrooms over the years, always leaves a dark green not a dead circle. I didn't see mushrooms in this area. We walk through this area every day from house to mailbox. We would have noticed anything unusual. Rarely I'll drive a tractor or truck through that area, never in a 20 ft circle (?). That's rare though.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

I think I found what it is by internet research.
This picture is not my lawn but found on the web.
We've had lots of hot days (90°F+), lots of rain and my soil a little high in nitrogen, all elements for Rhizoctonia solani to thrive.
There is a treatment and Ace Hardware is close by...hope they have it. Scott's lawn disease treatment.
Think that's it? ...thanks for opinions...

 

[Raul-02]

You guys are all wrongView attachment 758228

They always do leave crop circles

 

[Raul-02]

Hopefully I can answer all questions in one reply, and why I'm so mystified.
I've had this place 42 years. This just happened a few weeks ago. I found a picture I took of this general area about a month ago, circle in question is below red arrow. As you see...no circle there then.
Yes, before I bought it it was a small 40+ acre farm...cows, few horses, chickens, etc.
Never a silo or pool, etc there or anywhere on the place. We've had rains so I mow at least once a week. I always change mowing pattern a bit and usually get grass clippings up next day. No chemical/fuel/fluid spills ever.
Trees never planted there, none there even 42 years ago. Never a fence there.
Over the years of course I have run out of gas, had to refill mower, but never that area. I'm careful but have spilled a small amount which you can see a little spot days later.
It makes no sense.
Yes I have seen fairy ring mushrooms over the years, always leaves a dark green not a dead circle. I didn't see mushrooms in this area. We walk through this area every day from house to mailbox. We would have noticed anything unusual. Rarely I'll drive a tractor or truck through that area, never in a 20 ft circle (?). That's rare though.View attachment 758226

Lovely lawn
nive view

 

[Studboy911]

I’m probably wrong but it looks to me like a muck bucket or something similar sat there for at least a few days upside down. It does seem to have a tire track going threw it.

 

[scaredychicken]

I read the title of the thread, and before the posts opened up I was thinking ...
1) large dog(s) doing their business - liquid effort
2) buried / former septic tank, dry well, septic field area
3) a prankster
4) aliens

Sounds like you figured it out, and I am just arriving late to the party...

v

 

[Egon]

I believe it’s a fungal infection of some sort. We had them on a previous lawn. They seem to do better on poor and dry soil. The grass turns brown and basically dies. They do keep getting bigger.

 

[oosik]

I have one circle. About 15 feet across. The circle is made up of DARKER green grass. We call it a fairy circle. It's been there about ten years. I don't worry about it. Just mow it along with the remainder of the lawn. Life goes on........

 

[Diggin It]

Hopefully I can answer all questions in one reply, and why I'm so mystified.
I've had this place 42 years. This just happened a few weeks ago. I found a picture I took of this general area about a month ago,

Was this sudden, or over a week or so? Did you notice anything else during that period?

Some years back, I went out in the yard one morning and found a couple of large circles that were bright orange ... vivid rust orange. Looked like someone had used marker paint. Few days later it was a dull grey and fuzzy looking, obviously a fungus of some kind. The roundness of the circles was odd though.

But I can't remember if the grass died or not.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

You had a lawn fungus also.
Yes, it happened here suddenly.