Tuesday, 19 July 2022
How to tell what's wrong with my lawn?
Maintaining a healthy lawn isn’t always an easy task, especially if you have a full-time job, a family, and other commitments. Lawn maintenance is all about being on top of your garden’s needs and ensuring that lawn problems are promptly identified and dealt with.
You cannot neglect your grass if you want to achieve a healthy lawn. Luckily for you, your grass will let you know if it is struggling. To help ensure that your grass remains healthy and thriving, our lawn care experts have created this lawn maintenance guide to help you determine what’s wrong with your grass.
What does a healthy lawn look like?
The best way to tell if you have healthy grass is to observe its color. If your grass is a robust green, it means that it is doing well. This green color must be consistent throughout your lawn. Another key indicator that your lawn is healthy is if it is thick.
If you notice small brown patches or yellow spots in your lawn, it means that something is wrong. You do not want to have patches of thinning grass, as this suggests that you have localized issues in your grass. Left unchecked, these could potentially spread and kill the rest of the grass blades on your lawn.
Sustainable lawn maintenance tips
What’s wrong with my grass?
Most of the time, it is easy to know if something is wrong with your grass because there are visual signs of problems. Below are some of the most common issues gardeners encounter.
Too wet
Most people do not realize that overwatering is an issue for lawns. When you over water grass, you are essentially drowning it, which prevents it from thriving. If you over water your lawn, you will know as small clusters of mushrooms will start to appear on your grass. The additional water creates the perfect conditions for small fungi to thrive.
The presence of mushrooms on your lawn following a downpour or in humid conditions is not a cause for concern. However, if they maintain a constant presence on your lawn, it might be an indication of a watering problem. If you live in a region where that experiences heavy rain often, you should invest in a lawn aerator to drain your lawn.
How to get rid of mushrooms in your lawn
Too dry
Just as your lawn can be too wet, it can be too dry. Lawn care is all about balance, so you need to ensure that you are providing your lawn with just the right amount of water. If your lawn is too dry, the blades will begin to die. Dying and wilting grass is easy to notice because it turns brown and yellow.
Dry lawns are obviously more common in the summer months, when there is not as much rain, or in areas with naturally hotter climates. The best way to tackle a dry lawn is to create a watering schedule and stick to it, or install sprinklers to make sure that your lawn receives water consistently.
How much water is necessary for my lawn to grow properly?
Grubs
Grubs are the larvae of beetles and they are lethal to grass. Grass is their main source of food and nutrients. They love to eat organic material, especially grass roots. By attacking the blades at the root, they sever their connection to the soil's nutrients, therefore causing the grass to die.
The first sign of a grub infestation is the appearance of brown grass in isolated areas. These patches are the hubs in which the larvae live and eat. All you need to do to get rid of grubs is to apply pesticide or grub killer.
How to get rid of chinch bugs in my lawn?
Bad soil
It is in the soil that the nutrients that nourish and sustain your grass and foliage reside. Therefore, soil quality is key to a healthy green lawn. Soil compaction is a key indicator of bad soil because it does not provide any passageway for water or nutrients to reach the roots of the grass.
You can easily solve this problem by going around your garden with a fork or shovel and loosening the soil. To be even more certain that your soil is healthy, you should make use of lawn fertilizers. This will ensure that your soil is rich in nutrients.
Common lawn problems and diseases
Brown patches
Although brown patches are a common side effect of different lawn problems, it is also a disease. Brown patches can vary in size. While some are only a few inches, others can span up to several feet. This disease can affect both cool season and warm season grasses so it is essential that you continuously keep an eye on your grass. You should be extra diligent during the summer months as the heat has a tendency to exacerbate this problem.
Powdery mildew
Powdery mildew is a fungal disease, which can affect all types of grasses. It manifests by appearing as a powdery substance on the surface of the grass blades. Unlike brown spots, powdery mildew is most likely to appear during the cooler seasons as it thrives in cooler conditions. Since it develops faster in the shade, it is more likely to appear when it is cloudy.
Red thread
Red thread disease is an example of how essential healthy soil is for the growth of grass blades. This disease is caused by low nitrogen levels in your soil, which is why it is essential to regularly fertilize your lawn and make sure it has the right amount of nutrients.
You will be able to identify red thread on your lawn if there is red webbing or thread forming between the grass blades. It is not likely to spread at an unmanageable rate and can easily be dealt with by cutting your grass to get rid of the webbing.
How can I make my lawn healthy again?
It is generally quite easy to make your lawn healthy again after it has experienced lawn problems or diseases. In the event of a more serious problem, the best way to revive it is to plant more seeds in order to provide it with the boost it needs to thicken and thrive.
It is also a good idea to get rid of weeds that might be present, as they are likely to hinder the regeneration of your grass. Once the weeds have been removed, you should tend the soil. By loosening the soil and applying fertilizer, you can restore your lawn.
Lawn care services
Lawn care can be demanding and challenging, which is why many people invest in lawn maintenance services. The lawn care professionals at Vertdure have over 35 years of experience in the field. Voted number one in Quebec for lawn care, we offer different lawn maintenance packages to ensure that your grass thrives and remains lush and green.