August 10, 2018 | Posted in: Lawn Care

How do you fix brown grass?

Summer heat can make maintaining a luscious, green lawn difficult, and many property owners start to panic when their lawn turns brown.  But before blindly throwing money or chemicals at your lawn, make sure you actually have a problem.

BROWN GRASS CAN MEAN DORMANCY, NOT DEATH

Different species of grasses go dormant at different times of the year, much like animals hibernating for winter.  In Minnesota, many of our lawns are seeded with cool-season grasses, such as bluegrass, wheatgrass, rye, or fescue.  These grasses grow best when temperatures are in the 60s; the above-80F days we’ve had lately can cause cold-season grasses to fade and growth to slow.

You can combat this with regular watering of an inch more than once a week.  If you can’t water this deeply or regularly, it is best to allow your lawn to go dormant; it will green up again as temperatures fall in autumn.

leaf

Want to keep your lawn looking green and healthy even in the hottest part of summer?  Contact EnJay to find an irrigation system that is right for you. 

MOWING TOO SHORT CAN CAUSE YOUR GRASS TO STRUGGLE

It is easy to forget that lawn grass, like every other plant, needs to collect sunlight to survive.  Cool-season grasses need to retain 3-4″ of leaf surface for proper photosynthesis.  Without this, it can be hard for the grass plant to get enough nutrition to make it through summer drought and disease.

Wait to mow your grass until it is over 4″ in height, and be sure to raise your mower blade so you’re only cutting off 1/3 of the growth at a time.  It’s tempting to mow your grass short so you don’t have to go out to mow as often, but more frequent mowing with less height cut off each time is actually better for your grass.

Left: Leaf Spot disease; Right: Ring Patch disease

OF COURSE, BROWN GRASS CAN MEAN DISEASE

Hotter summer temps are a perfect environment for fungal diseases such as brown ring patch and leaf spot disease.  Ring patch disease shows up as yellowish rings or crescent patterns in the yard, with dead brown grass on the edges.  Leaf spot disease is exactly what it sounds like–black or purple spots on individual blades of grass that will eventually spread to the whole lawn.

If you see symptoms of diseased grass, contact us right away to determine the best treatment plan for your grass.

Summer heat doesn’t have to mean the end of your luscious green lawn.  Let us keep your lawn looking fresh and new all summer long!  Our team is trained on what is best for your lawn.  Whether it is irrigation installs and maintenance, sod replacement, recommendations on when to mow or when not to mow, we’ve got you covered!  Contact us at info@enjaypm.com or call 952-206-5296 (LAWN).

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