Lawn Disease? - Ask Extension
Hi! I’m perplexed! I had beautiful lawn in my backyard and then we had Spring Green apply a drought killer spray and shortly after the grass started...
Knowledgebase
Lawn Disease? #879037
Asked July 27, 2024, 4:48 PM EDT
Hi! I’m perplexed! I had beautiful lawn in my backyard and then we had Spring Green apply a drought killer spray and shortly after the grass started to brown and these small dirt piles showed up. Spring green said it’s diseased and they can’t do anything. I just don’t believe it. These are pictures I took from second floor of house. And up close! Please help!
Will County Illinois
Expert Response
Giovanna:
How long ago was this backyard sprayed by Green Springs?
You also mentioned "the pictures you took from your second floor". There was only one picture attached to your request for assistance. Can you send more photos?
How long ago was this backyard sprayed by Green Springs?
You also mentioned "the pictures you took from your second floor". There was only one picture attached to your request for assistance. Can you send more photos?
Hi! Spring green was here on July 11th to spray the “Anti Drought” which is part of a package we bought. The lawn started to brown shortly after that and when they came back out, they said it had nothing to do with their treatment it was a lawn disease that was being spread by our lawn mower! Here are some more photos. In the one photo you will see a small pile of dirt in brown spot. Those piles also started to show up all of yard. 
Sent from my iPhone
Sent from my iPhone
On Jul 29, 2024, at 10:22 AM, Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:
Giovanna:
From your photos, it looks like you may have several issues. Those little cone shaped holes or dug up spots in the lawn are probably from a skunk feeding on grubs. If your lawn has a bad grub problem, then brown dead patches will form in the lawn from the grubs eating off the grass roots and killing the plants. To check for grubs, go to an area of the lawn at the edge of one of the brown patches and pull up on the grass. If the grass easily comes out of the ground, then you have grubs. Another way is to take a shovel and lightly pry up the grass along the edge of one of these brown patches and if you see white, "C" shaped larvae, then you have grubs.
Did you have a lot of June Beetles or Japanese Beetles this year? These beetles are attracted to lush green lawns the year before to lay their eggs.
Brown dead patches in the lawn can be caused by the disease, Brown Patch. From your photos, it does look as though this may what your lawn has. This is a common disease in lawns that receive an abundance of fertilizer.
Another possible cause is when fertilizer is applied during hot, dry weather without adequate rainfall to dilute the salts in the fertilizer. Or fertilizer is applied to moist grass (think dewy grass) ahead of the midday sun and the fertilizer salts burn the grass leaves as the grass dries.
You may have more than one thing going on here. I suggest that you ask Spring Green for the "anti-drought" application ingredients. This may help to narrow down the possible causes.
I can tell you that this was not a disease spread by your lawn mower. If your lawn mower had spread the disease you would have notice streaks of diseased grass that eventually coalesced
into large brown patches.
I hope all this information is helpful to you-
From your photos, it looks like you may have several issues. Those little cone shaped holes or dug up spots in the lawn are probably from a skunk feeding on grubs. If your lawn has a bad grub problem, then brown dead patches will form in the lawn from the grubs eating off the grass roots and killing the plants. To check for grubs, go to an area of the lawn at the edge of one of the brown patches and pull up on the grass. If the grass easily comes out of the ground, then you have grubs. Another way is to take a shovel and lightly pry up the grass along the edge of one of these brown patches and if you see white, "C" shaped larvae, then you have grubs.
Did you have a lot of June Beetles or Japanese Beetles this year? These beetles are attracted to lush green lawns the year before to lay their eggs.
Brown dead patches in the lawn can be caused by the disease, Brown Patch. From your photos, it does look as though this may what your lawn has. This is a common disease in lawns that receive an abundance of fertilizer.
Another possible cause is when fertilizer is applied during hot, dry weather without adequate rainfall to dilute the salts in the fertilizer. Or fertilizer is applied to moist grass (think dewy grass) ahead of the midday sun and the fertilizer salts burn the grass leaves as the grass dries.
You may have more than one thing going on here. I suggest that you ask Spring Green for the "anti-drought" application ingredients. This may help to narrow down the possible causes.
I can tell you that this was not a disease spread by your lawn mower. If your lawn mower had spread the disease you would have notice streaks of diseased grass that eventually coalesced
into large brown patches.
I hope all this information is helpful to you-
