Lawnworks Lawncare

Managing Foliar Diseases

in Turfgrass Lawns

Identify, Treat, and

Prevent Turfgrass Diseases

So, your lawn has fallen ill. How do you aid it in recovery? Can you prevent it from happening again? How soon until symptoms are gone? There’s a lot that goes into managing turfgrass diseases, so we at LawnWorks wanted to simplify and explain everything you need to know.

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Active Lawn Disease

For a disease to be active, all three components of the disease triangle must be present:

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Susceptible Host

This is the grass itself. Different species of grass exhibit different amounts of resistance to various fungal pathogens.



Pathogen

Pathogens are microscopic organisms that enter the host to feed and deplete the host of essential resources. Different pathogens can spread in many ways.



Favorable Environment

Pathogens are particular and require certain environments to be active. This is why certain diseases are only active at specific times of year.

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When conditions become favorable for a pathogen, they become active and start to spread. This is why the weather has a significant impact on disease development. Prolonged leaf wetness is a driver for most foliar diseases, so persistent rain (especially overnight) and humidity are going to increase chances. From there, temperature ranges play a part. And while we can’t control the weather, we do play a part in the moisture levels on the surface as well as the overall health of the plants before they encounter the pathogen.

There is a two-part process when dealing with diseases. First, we need to shut down the pathogen by altering the environment and/or fungicide use. Then, we need the grass to grow out of the disease for the symptoms (lesions and discoloration) to go away.

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Follow These Tips to Minimize Disease Pressure

Fungicides

Fungicides can be very beneficial for managing disease issues, but it’s important to have the correct expectations on what they will do. They will not cure the disease! They kill the active pathogen and provide some degree of residual control, usually varying from 10-30 days depending on weather conditions. If conditions are still favorable, it’s possible that the disease can flare back up again. And if conditions are no longer favorable and the pathogen is gone, the symptoms still need to grow out, which is why good cultural practices are essential regardless of fungicide use. If your lawn is under drought stress while fighting a disease, the disease will be more severe, and the symptoms will take much longer to grow out. If you think you have a disease and/or need a fungicide, call us at (815) 723-8760.