Turf disease occurs when certain environmental conditions are met and therefore cannot be prevented unless a preventive treatment was applied before the turf disease was present.  Diseases that negatively affect lawns can be treated and cured but it is important to start treatment quickly so permanent damage is not done to the lawn.

Turf Disease Management

Turf disease outbreaks are irregular and therefore are not normally included in lawn care service programs.

When a turf disease is present it can spread quickly and wreak havoc on the lawn. Identification and accurate timing of control product application is the key to successful disease management.

All lawn fungi thrive on the following three components:

1. Host (grass)
2. Pathogen (fungus)
3. Environment (moisture, excess thatch, poor soil conditions, etc.)

In order to effectively manage the disease, you must interrupt one of the three components.

The Science Behind Turf Disease Control

There are several ways we can disrupt 1 of the 3 components fungi damaging your lawn need to survive.

Following the best practices for mowing a lawn is a great place to start and reduce the chances your lawn will be affected by disease or fungi.

An obvious example of how to eliminate fungi from your lawn would be to kill the pathogen with fungicide.

If your lawn is getting too much water, reduce your watering frequency if this was not induced by the current environmental conditions.

Aerating will introduce better air and water circulation throughout the soil and which will typically help combat turf disease and fungi issues.

The 5 most common lawn diseases in and near Syracuse, NY:

1. Dollar Spot
2. Leaf Spot
3. Snow Mold
4. Rust
5. Powdery Mildew

Premier Lawn Services treats these turf diseases and others that affect lawns in Central New York.

Mushrooms are typically not the problem

Mushrooms are actually a good sign that your soil is healthy!

Mushrooms (fungi) feed on decomposing plant material such as old tree roots. Mushrooms are basically an indication that soil building is going on in your lawn due to composting. Mushrooms can easily be removed by mowing over them or using a rake and disposing of them.

Mushrooms are naturally occurring, so as long as they are not caused by a detrimental pathogen, there is really no need to worry about mushrooms themselves.

Although turf disease management is not part of our standard 5-Step lawn care program, disease management falls within our IPM services and we can treat turf disease preventative or curatively if desired or needed. Our lawn care applicators are trained in the identification of lawn diseases. They will alert you if a problem exists and present a solution to remedy it.