TOP RATED LOCAL® LAWN CARE EXPERTS

A HIGHER LEVEL OF LAWN CARE

Spring Dead Spots

Spring dead spot, or SDS, is one of the most common and important diseases on Bermuda grass in Georgia. It is difficult to manage Spring Dead Spot without an integrated approach. This fungus disease is most common on intensively maintained turf like golf courses or lawns. What Are Herbicides?

The characteristic dead patches appear in the spring when the grass is breaking dormancy, and the problem can persist well into summer. The fungus that causes the disease attacks the roots and stolons in the fall and winter. This makes the grass more vulnerable to winter freeze damage, which leads to the dead patches of grass.

Late September through October is the best time to apply preventative fungicide applications if SDS has been a problem this past season. But this won’t provide complete control. Most infections can be eventually eliminated over a period of years by combining fall fungicide applications with sound cultural practices.

Maintaining a disease free lawn in the coming years can only be accomplished by eliminating the stress that allowed the disease organisms to attack the lawn in the first place. Lawns are stressed by poor soil conditions combined with an imbalance of nutrients. Compaction, poor drainage and thatch thicker than one inch are also linked to SDS outbreaks.

Follow these tips
Applying nitrogen late in the season or excess nitrogen, especially with a potassium deficiency, can encourage the development of disease. An integrated management program to improve the lawn’s health includes the following steps:

• When planting new lawns, use cold tolerant cultivars.
• Aerate and remove thatch regularly.
• Irrigate deeply and less frequently. (Once per week in the absence of adequate rain.)
• Mow at the recommended height. Low-mowing height stresses lawns.
• Monitor pH and nutrient levels on a regular basis with soil tests. Keep potassium and phosphorus in balance with nitrogen.

Other warm-season grasses, such as zoysia, centipede and St. Augustine, will also benefit from these general recommendations to prevent diseases like take-all and Rhizoctonia large patch. Follow recommendations for fertilizer applications for the particular grass species. A pH of approximately 5.5 to 6 is generally optimum for warm-season grasses.

SDS causes dead patches