Keep your Trenton landscape disease-free by regularly inspecting your lawn and, if you spot any sign of disease, treat it right away with chemical, cultural, or biological methods. Then reseed to ensure your lawn bounces back to its lush, green state.
Don’t forget to keep monitoring the lawn and add some preventative measures in your lawn care regime. This article is an easy guide for Trenton homeowners to understand how to identify common lawn diseases in their lawns and then successfully treat them.
Key Takeaways
The most common lawn diseases in Trenton include rust, dollar spot, fusarium blight, pythium blight, brown patch, and red thread.
Inspect the grass for disease by checking the blades and roots for brown, yellow, or discolored patches or fungal growth.
Treat lawn diseases with biological, chemical, or cultural methods. Then reseed and renovate.
Prevent lawn diseases in the future by planting disease-resistant grass types for Trenton and improving your lawn care routine.
Common Lawn Diseases in the Trenton Area
From stressful weather conditions, including humidity, high or low temperatures, and rainfall, to improper care practices such as mowing and watering wrong, there’s a lot that gives way to disease in a lawn.
There’s an overwhelming variety of lawn diseases out there. And trust me, so many of them look and manifest very similarly in New Jersey.
Some common lawn diseases that you need to look out for in Trenton lawns are:
Rust (Puccinia spp.)
Coming from Puccinia fungus, rust is a common sight in Trenton. It attacks lawns with wet grass or shady areas more than sunny, dry lawns.
Appears As: This grass disease makes the lawn look thin and weak. It appears as if the grass is covered with a yellow or orange-red powdery dust-like substance. This powder can also discolor clothing and shoes.
Susceptible Grasses: It mostly attacks cool-season turfgrasses, especially perennial ryegrass.
Favorable Conditions: Rust loves wet leaves, warmth (68-86 degrees Fahrenheit), and shady areas of the lawn.
Active Months: This disease gets most severe mid to late summer to early fall and when your grass is under stress or not actively growing.
Cultural Options: To dodge this disease, water properly to reduce drought stress, minimize leaf wetness, and ensure adequate soil fertility.
For more information, check out “How to Identify, Control, and Prevent Leaf Rust in Grass.”
Dollar Spot (Sclerotinia homoecarpa)
This is a fungal disease that gets its name from its dollar-sized, round appearance.
Appears As: Bleached, straw-colored patches of 1 to 6 inches in diameter on the turf.
Susceptible Grasses: Dollar spot attacks all cool-season turfgrasses.
Favorable Conditions: Constantly damp leaves, dew, warm days followed by cool nights, high humidity, and soils low in nitrogen.
Active Months: It’s most prevalent in periods of high humidity, typically late spring through early fall.
Cultural Options: Reduce soil compaction, limit thatch, maintain soil fertility, minimize wetness, and water as needed.
For more information, check out “How to Get Rid of Dollar Spot.”
Fusarium Blight (Microdochium nivale)
This fungus attacks after winter and wreaks havoc on Trenton lawns.
Appears As: Fusarium blight creates white or pink mold on the grass that looks like light green, faded patches on the lawn. The patches eventually turn reddish brown and die.
Susceptible Grasses: It will attack all cool-season grasses that are susceptible to this fungus.
Favorable Conditions: This disease typically occurs in cool, wet weather.
Active Months: Fusarium prefers fall and spring when the lawns have more chances of high moisture levels.
Cultural Options: Maintain proper mowing height for your grass type, avoid overplanting in the yard to reduce dense and shaded areas, dethatch, and sustain soil fertility.
Check out “How to Identify, Control, and Prevent Fusarium Blight” for more information.
Pythium Blight (Pythium spp.)
This is a common and serious menace in New Jersey lawns. If your lawn feels slimy and weird, you might have pythium blight. It’s a deadly disease that can kill your grass in less than 24 hours. Without proper treatment, new grass won’t grow back in the affected areas.
Appears As: Pythium blight manifests as patches of blackened, water-soaked grass. It starts off as damp black or purple small patches then aggressively expands into larger, irregular areas.
Susceptible Grasses: All cool-season grasses but perennial ryegrass is the most susceptible variety.
Favorable Conditions: This disease typically attacks newly seeded lawns.
Active Months: Spring and fall.
Cultural Options: Avoid excessive watering, address drainage issues, improve air circulation and reduce shade, mow at recommended height, and don’t overfertilize.
For more management tips, check out “How to Identify, Control, and Prevent Pythium Blight Lawn Disease.”
Brown Patch (Rhizoctonia)
Brown patch is another fungal lawn nemesis for Trenton.
Appears As: Starts as one small brown spot and spreads quickly in a circular or horseshoe pattern. Sometimes, the center of the spot remains green while the rest turns brown and dull.
Susceptible Grasses: Almost all grass varieties are susceptible to brown patch disease, even well-maintained New Jersey lawns.
Favorable Conditions: Hot and humid conditions, moist and shady areas of the lawn.
Active Months: Hot and humid summer months when temperatures are high and moisture levels are elevated.
Cultural Options: Improve soil drainage and aerate, practice good mowing techniques, dethatch, and water as needed.
Need more detailed instructions? Check out “How to Identify, Control, and Prevent Brown Patch.”
Red Thread (Laetisaria fuciformis)
Red thread disease makes the lawn a bit red and then turns it brown.
Appears As: Wet grass blades, especially in fescues, ryegrass, or bluegrass, that look like they have reddish threads. May be accompanied by irregular patches of bleached or tan grass.
Susceptible Grasses: Perennial ryegrass, Kentucky bluegrass, and fine fescue.
Favorable Conditions: Red threads grow rapidly in cool and moist weather conditions.
Active Months: Spring and fall.
Cultural Options: Reduce thatch buildup, use proper fertilization practices, improve soil drainage, and water appropriately.
For more tips and tricks, read “Red Thread and Pink Patch: What They Are and How to Get Rid of Them.”
How to Identify and Inspect Lawn Disease
Trenton’s warm, humid, and wet summers are followed by very cold and snowy winters that take a great toll on lawns and landscape plants.
Periods of heavy rainfall and damp winters create favorable environments for a variety of lawn diseases, such as brown patch and pythium blight (which thrive in moist conditions). The chance of disease increases tenfold without proper winter lawn maintenance.
It’s actually pretty easy to tell when something is going wrong on your lawn.
Identification
Most lawn fungus manifests as discolored, yellow, bleached, or brown patches of dead grass. Or, you will see mushrooms, slimy or powdery residue on grass blades, and spots on leaves, among other examples.
Depending on the fungus or disease, you may be looking at a variety of symptoms. It’s important to identify what’s causing these symptoms before you can treat them. Misidentification will lead to wrong treatment that your wallet won’t like… plus, you’d simply be wasting time.
A few things to keep in mind when doing so:
- It’s easy to mistake lawn disease symptoms for damage left behind by New Jersey’s infamous pests. Chinch bugs, grubs, and sod webworms cause damage to the lawn that resembles destruction by lawn diseases.
- Lawn disease may develop from numerous causes, and it’s possible you won’t be able to pin it down easily. It could be overwatering, improper mowing practices, or the wrong type of fertilizer used among other things. So rule them out, one by one.
Inspection
Once you spot any of these general signs of disease, inspect more closely. Focus on the damaged areas of the lawn and analyze the conditions that may be helping the fungus grow. Knowing this will help you figure out the right type of treatment.
How to Inspect
Answer the following questions:
- Is your soil lacking any nutrients? (do a soil test to know)
- Is the turfgrass under some stress from excessive foot traffic, extreme weather exposure, etc.?
- Are there areas that constantly stay in the shade and/or wet?
- Do you detect any insect pests? They could be contributing to the damage that brought about the disease.
What to Look For
Observe: Look at all your garden plants or ornamentals and lawn grass for symptoms of disease. From discoloration to mold to the appearance of mushrooms, anything that you find to be a bit off in the yard is noteworthy.
Check the grass blades: Inspect by lifting grass blades to see the condition of the base. Look for signs of fungal growth, rot, or any other irregularities.
Look for patches and circles: Many lawn diseases create circular or irregular shapes.
Dig a small section and inspect the roots: Healthy roots are light tan or white. If you see mushy or rotten roots, there’s a problem.
Check weather conditions: If the disease is thriving, take note of the weather. Cool-season grasses are at greater risk of catching a disease when it’s warmer than normal and warm-season grasses become more vulnerable when temperatures are lower than normal.
How to Treat Lawn Diseases in Trenton, NJ
Treating a lawn disease may involve a combination of chemical, cultural, and biological methods that are tailored to the disease and climate you’re in. After identifying the disease, contact a lawn care professional, local extension service, or a gardening expert for a proper diagnosis, if needed.
Then, apply what’s appropriate in the situation:
Chemical Treatment
This method used chemical-based products to kill fungus.
- Apply fungicides to contain severe disease outbreaks. You can look for a product that’s labeled to specifically treat the disease affecting your lawn. For recommendations, check out our review of the best lawn fungicides.
- Religiously follow the manufacturer’s instructions on the packaging regarding safety and application.
Biological Disease Control
This approach employs a living organism to fight a disease or pest through antibiosis, parasitism, or competition for space and resources.
- You can use beneficial microbes or fungi to subdue disease-causing pathogens naturally. Some products contain beneficial bacteria or fungi to restore microbial balance in the spoil and improve immunity against disease.
- Beneficial nematodes or other natural predators may help to control pests that may be contributing to disease onset indirectly. You can read all about the former in our article “Beneficial Nematodes: Where to Buy Them and How to Use Them.”
Cultural Management of Disease
This involves human activities to control the disease through cultural manipulation (purposeful modifications in the environmental and management practices to promote plant health and reduce pest infestations and disease outbreaks).
Cultural manipulation helps homeowners establish a resilient and sustainable lawn that needs less supplementation and can fight off diseases. Some components of cultural management include:
- Water management: Water deeply and infrequently to encourage deep-root development and drought tolerance.
- Improve air circulation: Prune overhanging branches and thin out dense vegetation to allow drying and decrease humidity levels.
- Maintain proper mowing height: Know your grass and maintain suitable mowing height and frequency for minimal stress on grass and healthy growth. Never scalp the lawn as it’ll weaken the turf.
- Address drainage and soil compaction issues: Core aerate and include soil amendments to create healthy root systems.
- Maintain soil health: Practices like topdressing, overseeding, and core aeration improve soil structure, nutrient availability, and water infiltration.
- Fertilization: Balanced fertilization provides the grass with essential nutrients for healthy growth.
- Manage thatch: Reduce thatch accumulation so your lawn has better air circulation, nutrient uptake, and water penetration.
Integrated Pest Management
IPM or Integrated Pest Management combines cultural, chemical, and biological strategies to manage pests, common weeds, and diseases while minimizing environmental impact. IPM principles generally involve promoting natural enemies, monitoring pest populations, and more.
Reseed and Renovate
After treating the areas affected by the disease and addressing all the factors that contributed to it (if any), it may be time to reseed or renovate the beaten-down areas of your lawn.
Monitor
Disease recurrence and new outbreaks aren’t uncommon in Trenton’s humid summers. So, monitor the lawn and maintain a consistent and complete lawn care routine so the lawn stays healthy and disease-free.
Regular monitoring will tell you if there’s any need for a follow-up treatment.
How to Prevent Lawn Disease in Trenton, NJ
Great, luscious lawns don’t just happen; maintaining them is a labor of love. Spotting something wrong with your lawn and treating it is one thing, but if you’re aiming for a disease-free lawn, here’s what you do:
Plant Disease-Resistant Grass Variety for NJ
Certain grass types are hardier than others when it comes to diseases. This means they won’t fall prey to lawn diseases as easily as other cultivars. The right grass type for your lawn depends on where you live. If you plant warm-season grass in a cold-weather city, or vice versa, the grass will struggle.
Out of the best grass types for New Jersey, Kentucky bluegrass and fescue blends have newer varieties that show impressive shade- and disease-tolerance. These varieties also handle unpredictable weather in New Jersey pretty well. So if you ask me, play safe and stick with one of these.
Water Properly: In the Morning and Regularly
As clear from the first part of the article, wet lawns are more susceptible to disease. So simply controlling how, when, and how much you water the lawn can save you and your lawn a lot of pain.
Replace watering shallowly and frequently with infrequent, say once a week with an inch of water at least, in the morning watering. This practice won’t keep the lawn wet and ensures that diseases stay away from your green haven.
Fertilize the Right Way
A weak and hungry lawn will catch more diseases than a healthy lawn that’s getting all of the proper nutrients. Keep a check of fertilization schedules and use the best fertilizer for your lawn’s needs. Make sure that your lawn maintains the correct pH level. A soil test will show deficiencies that you can easily adjust with the right product.
Also, keep in mind that excessive fertilization actually promotes diseases in some cases. And several factors go into knowing the number of times your lawn will need fertilizer in a year. This includes local weather, climate, season, and the type of grass.
As for Trenton lawns, it’s ideal to fertilize once in April or early May as a part of your spring care and then again in October or November to strengthen it for the coming winter.
Aerate Regularly
Aeration means putting small holes in the soil to relieve soil compaction. Oxygen, water, and nutrients cannot reach the roots when soil is compacted. And hence, your lawn suffers from weak turf and becomes vulnerable to diseases and pests.
Plus, when essential nutrients are restricted at the top layer of soil, it serves as the number one cause for thatch buildup in your yard. Thatch makes an excellent environment for diseases. Aerating your lawn will solve this, among other problems, and encourage stronger and deeper root growth.
Aerating once a year is fine for most lawns, but if yours is in bad shape then twice a year will work. Fall and spring is the time to do it.
Utilize a Dethatching Rake
In addition to lawn aeration, you can also get rid of thatch in your lawn with the help of a dethatching rake. This rake will eliminate buildup and keep the yard healthy.
Remember, don’t dethatch in wet weather. The best time is late summer into fall.
Follow the Rule of Thirds When Mowing
Regular mowing is important for all lawns. But knowing not to cut too much is more important.
Scalping your lawn will make it more susceptible to disease. Remember the rule of thirds that says to never cut off more than one-third of the grass height in one mowing session. Also check if the lawn mower’s blades are sharp enough to give a clean cut because dull blades will damage the turf.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best way to naturally prevent fungus in the lawn?
Generally, good lawn care practices will help you prevent lawn fungus. But aeration and dethatching are the best ways to improve soil drainage and minimize organic matter buildup that harbors fungal spores.
What does a stressed lawn appear like?
A stressed turf will stay flat and look dull instead of being bouncy and you will see lots of discoloration at the tips of grass blades.
How do I know my grass is overwatered?
The biggest sign of an overwatered lawn is that the grass appears to be brown, yellow, or pale rather than deep green.
When to Call a Pro
There are times when a lawn disease gets out of your hands. That’s when LawnStarter can help. Our pros are highly skilled with expertise in all things lawns and landscaping and will help you recover your lawn from disease in no time. Call your nearby pro, hand over your disease-riddled lawn to us, and get a happy, healthy lawn in return.
Main Photo Credit: singjai / Adobe Stock Free / License
