What You Need to Know About Brown Patch Disease

Brown patch is one of those turf grass diseases that can cause a mess in your lawn. This is a fungal disease that affects the following types of grass: Kentucky bluegrass, bentgrass, zoyziagrass, tall fescue, perennial ryegrass, bermudagrass and St. Augustinegrass. The disease really thrives in lawns that are overfertilized with large amounts of fast release nitrogen fertilizer. By seeking reliable tree service Toronto, you will make sure such diseases are caught early and prevented from spreading to the rest of your lawn.

What causes brown patch?

Brown patch develops due to several reasons.

Exposure to wet conditions
Trees that get the brown patch disease are often exposed to prolonged wet conditions. For instance, if the tree is grown in an area with extensive periods of heavy rain, too much irrigation or poor drainage, it is likely to develop brown patch.
High temperatures
The fungal disease also thrives in warm temperatures, typically 75 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit.

Over-fertilization
Trees that are overfertilized especially during late spring or summer are more likely to develop brown patch.
Excessive thatch
This mostly occurs when the tree is grown in a lawn that has decaying plant matter in between the soil and grass. This thatch creates an environment for fungi to thrive

How to tell if a tree is infected

Most trees, when infected with brown patch will develop circular brown patches of different sizes. The patches are usually a few inches to several feet in diameter. You’ll notice dead grass surrounded by a narrow, dark ring in your lawn when it’s infected with the brown patch disease. The dark, smoke ring usually appears early mornings when there’s some dew on the grass.

The circular brown patches can enlarge rapidly from a small central point and spread throughout the lawn. Sometimes the patches grow together creating large dead areas. Soon, you will notice a sunken effect on the affected areas as the grass dies down.

How to tell if a tree is infected

If a tree is already infected, one of the ways to reduce the severity of the fungal disease is by ensuring fungicide treatments are done as well as proper tree maintenance. You may be able to get rid of the disease completely with two to three fungicide treatments. Other ways to resolve or avoid this fungal disease include:

Avoid using any nitrogen fertilizer when the tree is infected
Reduce the amount of watering done. If necessary, watering should only be done once in early morning.
Provide proper aeration to get rid of the decaying plant matter that exists between the grass and soil also known as thatch.
Make sure the trees and shrubs are properly pruned. Pruning not only boosts the aesthetics of the trees but also helps to enhance light penetration and air movement keeping diseases such as this at bay.
Contact an expert arborist Toronto to treat the lawn and ensure that this disease, if identified early enough is treated successfully.

Brown patch is certainly a destructive disease that can sneak up and destroy your lawn overnight even when the weather conditions are right. Before you consider tree removal Mississauga, find out if the extent of damage from brown patch can be reversed.