ID Please

[Laner]

Got a call from a customer today asking if I would stop by and look at her lawn. She has a lot of dead-looking areas all over the lawn and the grass is getting very thin. I pulled some areas up and took them with me. I have not been exposed to many of the possible lawn diseases/fungus, so I am asking for help to identify this and possibly offer a suggestion to this lady.

[mrkosar]

looks like a leaf blight disease with the black dots on the green grass and the melting out with it dying from the top down the blade.

maybe ascochyta leaf blight

[Laner]

Took a sample in to my local extension office. They felt that it looked like Leaf Spot. If this is the case, what is the best method of control?

[mdlwn1]

A picture of the turf area/conditions would be helpful

[boats47]

The cheapest way is change the water cycle and think about aeration to assist with drainage (not this time of the year) and use a higher N to push the spot out. Unless you want to fork the cake over to spray fungicides and really once you see it, its not worth it (fungicides are more of preventative messure for suseptable turf areas). I really would not be to concered about in a residential setting.

[mdlwn1]

well said..........

[Laner]

I will try to get some pics this weekend and post them. My initial thoughts were to aerate, seed and fertilize early this fall.

[Laner]

Got some pics of the lawn yesterday.

[mdlwn1]

Is there irrigation?

You can't really tell what's up from the pics...sorry, but here is what I can easily see.
1. It's nice and green under the shade.
2. Not so nice where the sun hits.

Do you know how to look for cinch bugs?

I thought I had a dry spot until I looked down at the crown of a few areas. BAM!!! There were several generations...littlerally 100's.

[americanlawn]

I think I see crabgrass along the edge (seedheads). Might even be some clumps of tall fescue too. Next to this, it sure looks like heat/drought damage on a Kentucky bluegrass lawn. As far as leaf spot goes, I don't think there's a lawn out there that doesn't have it.

[rcreech]

American,

I am seeing tons of this! I agree that I think this is heat/drougth related. I have limited experience with drougth and turf! Will a lawn like this OR WORSE come back or will it need seeded? I am not sure because we have not had enough rain for me to see it bounce back.

To me the our lawns don't have much life in them and look totally dehydrated!

[americanlawn]

American,

I am seeing tons of this! I agree that I think this is heat/drougth related. I have limited experience with drougth and turf! Will a lawn like this OR WORSE come back or will it need seeded? I am not sure because we have not had enough rain for me to see it bounce back.

To me the our lawns don't have much life in them and look totally dehydrated!

I hear ya rcreech -- as I drove around the city today, I had a difficult time finding ANY lawn that didn't have crabgrass somewhere. It's a bad year for it. :cool2:

[MStine315]

I'm seeing recovery around here already from 8/10th's rain we had last Thursday. So what's that...4 days. As bad as it looks, it should come back with a moderate rain.

[mkroher]

If it's drought related, why are there patches of green turf in the middle of it? I say it's the remains of leaf spot/melting out. I'd check for chinch bugs too, but I think it looks more like fungal damage.

[rcreech]

Just guessing....but if there are different types of grass (which it looks like some Fescue) this would give a "blotched" apearance where the more tolerant grass is still green.

Looks like it is more in the sun then behind where it is more in the shade.

Who can tell by looking at pics that far away?

[americanlawn]

Just guessing....but if there are different types of grass (which it looks like some Fescue) this would give a "blotched" apearance where the more tolerant grass is still green.

Looks like it is more in the sun then behind where it is more in the shade.

Who can tell by looking at pics that far away?

You got it right buddy. After looking closely at the originals pics, I noticed "clumps" of ryegrass (tends to stay green during heat/drought). Problem is....most ryegrasses tend to grow in "clumps" (see original pic) instead of spreading and filling in dead spots like Kentucky bluegrass does. Ryegrass may have it's place, but I do not like it. Too often a "clump grass" = most cultivars of ryegrass, and often have "rust" problems regarding ryegrass --- see Ohio State University.:usflag:

[turfnh2oman]

Well my two cents worth is this. On the close up shots [pic #2] it looks like Poa trivialis die out. Noted stolons and long thin linear leaf apple green color which is the first thing to go in the heat. Could also be a fine fescue [pic #1]But after looking further at the lawn pictures I'd start looking for critters. Chinchbugs particularly or billbug. Noted the grasses bypassed in the damaged area. Ahhh, not sooo tasty, ok on back to the good stuff. Unless it is BLATENTLY evident, pictures are usually harder to diagnose from unless you know what you're looking at.

[naughty62]

We had a grumpy old man at the end of the block. everytime we cut the corner short or crossed his prize lawn ,he would do his best to pop one of us with a be-be . It was like a sport . But my schwinn usaully was running flat out.

[Laner]

Mdlwn1 -There is no irrigation system in this lawn and the owner did not water the lawn during our drought period. I am not familiar with how to check for cinch bugs.

American -Yes, along the edges there is a great deal of crabgrass. A granular app of Dimension was applied in late April. I am seeing some break thru this year, but only on lawns with poor soil/grass conditions.

I'll do some research on checking for cinch bugs, then check for them. We have had 4-5 inches of rain in the past 3 weeks and the lawn hasn't gotten any worse in the past week.

Thanks everyone!

[turfnh2oman]

My dearest buddy Laner,

Please send 4-5 inches of rain this way over the next 3 weeks. I will send you my next born child.