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Options for treating spring dead spot

14 years ago

I have noticed three rather large dead spots in my front yard. They are maybe 1 foot in diameter and are in different locations. I saw one of them last summer but unfortunately never did anything about it so it's back again this year. Now I have two more.

I've searched and have found that the best way to treat SDS is in the fall with a fungicide. Another treatment is to dig the area up and reseed/sod but also only in the fall.

Is there anything I can do at this time of year to treat this ugliness or do I just have to wait until fall? Man, my yard was actually beginning to look nice and now I have this mess to deal with.

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Comments (5)

dchall_san_antonio
14 years ago
Where do you live?
What kind of grass do you have?
What is SDS?
How often do you water and for how long?
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coreman73
Original Author
14 years ago
Dschall,

I live in Wylie, TX which is about 20 minutes northeast of Dallas. I have bermuda grass. SDS = spring dead spot. So far this year I have not watered at all. We've had enough rain in our area that it hasn't really been necessary yet. It hasn't been hot enough either. I may start later this week though after my next mowing.

The areas are still straw colored and in the very center you can even see down to the roots. I think they've filled in a little bit but not much.
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The grass is going to grow like crazy in the early spring regardless of whether you fertilize. Professional grass farmers use their spring application of fertilizer to carry the grass from the time after that initial flush of growth into the summer. In other words they apply after the grass growth slows down. Hence the Memorial Day suggestion by tiemco. Seeding in the spring is not helping matters. You are probably going to water much more frequently to get that seed to sprout. If you would get all your 'densifying' done in the fall, you would be in better shape in the spring. Is your lawn all fescue with no Kentucky bluegrass? KBG would not work much in the shade.
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Where in CO are you? Do you have any watering restrictions? If you have a lot of thatch and roots in the top inch, you may be watering too often or too shallowly when you water. Most people on this forum advocate watering once a week and supplying an inch at a time. In the intermountain west, the arid climate and winds may make that impossible and you may need to water twice a week. But I would not water more often than that. Dinner plate sized holes should fill in by themselves, or you could cut plugs (maybe an inch or two across) from healthy areas of the lawn and plant them in the middle to speed the process. If you want to seed, it will be difficult to seed now and keep the grass alive during the summer, especially if you have any watering restrictions. I'm not sure how much time you have between the summer heat stopping and snow starting, but here, there's not much time, so a dormant seeding approach often works best. When you dormant seed, you put the seed down after it's too late for it to germinate and it germinates in the spring with the moisture provided by nature (melting snow, etc). It will usually germinate much sooner with dormant seeding than if you try to time it yourself, and you don't need to water it using this approach. That gives it a chance to get established well enough before the summer heat hits.
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Well SDS is most common in the Transition zones. Other factors are excessive nitrogen applications, low potash levels in the soil, increases of soil PH, and excess thatch accumulation. Eliminate all the possibilities you can.
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bingo bango ... i was going to further suggest.. the barbie ... lol ... what struck me.. is that it was in a pattern ... generally.. leaf disease.. is NOT going to attack a single limb ... it will be more generalized over the whole tree ... let me further guess... it was a 100 degree day.. and a balmy evening.. and you decided to basically hang fire in your tree ... ROTFLMBO ... the leaves were probably already stressed.. and you just took them over the edge.. anyway.. they will fall off in a few weeks... maybe .... there is some branch damage.. but we will not know that until it buds out in spring ... i wouldnt worry too much about it ... its a maple.. you could cut it off at ground level.. and it will be as big next year .... good luck ken
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dchall_san_antonio
14 years ago
Well, I wasn't expecting that. Why? Because bermuda almost never gets fungal diseases, so I was really expecting St Aug. And without watering, what would cause the disease? Did you have prolonged snow cover this year?
Are your spots shaded by trees or anything?
What color is your car? (I'm obviously drawing a blank)
Are the dead spots in low lying areas?

I use organic products for fungus control. The one that works on almost everything is ordinary corn meal applied at a rate of 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Since it is also an organic fertilizer and otherwise harmless to pets and children, I would apply it over the entire lawn. If you try spot applications you'll end up with dark green spots where it fertilized and possibly dead spots where you had the disease but had not noticed it yet. You can apply corn meal any time of day or night, rain or shine. But don't expect to see fast miracles happen. It takes 3 full weeks to see greening coming back in. You will probably forget you applied by the time it greens up and then all of a sudden you'll notice it.
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coreman73
Original Author
14 years ago
Well, we did have quite a bit of snow this year. But two spots in particular were there last year as well. About 3/4 through the summer it finally grew in. Currently, these spots are back and are way behind the rest of the lawn in growth and color. I just don't know what to make of these spots.

I have never used or considered organic products before. Where could I buy the corn meal? Is there a particular brand you'd recommend? Also, I fertilized about 2 weeks ago with a synthetic 15-5-10 product. How long do I need to wait before applying the corn meal? Then how long should I wait before returning to my first application of synthetic 39-0-0?

I appreciate your help. I'm still trying to learn a solid routine for my bermuda grass.
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dchall_san_antonio
14 years ago
You can get corn meal at these feed stores. Call ahead. It comes in plain, brown, 50-pound bags and should cost well under $10. Be sure they know it is corn meal and not cracked or deer corn. Cracked will do the job but you might get a few of them germinating and giving you corn weeds. Even if they do sprout, one mowing will kill them.

You can use organic fertilizer on the same day as synthetic. They work completely differently so there is no interaction. You don't need to disrupt your normal fertilizer schedule to add the corn meal.

Just for grins you might look on the Organic Gardening forum for the FAQs. There is one titled Organic Lawn Care.
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