jdruding, since it was a beautiful KBG lawn, the present problem(s)must be due to conditions since then. The lawn was fertilized after which the lawn turned brown and weeds started popping up. I assume that nothing else was changed. That suggests that it was not a 'weed & feed' product; was the fertilizer applied at the right rate and watered in etc. as may have been specified on the label?
You had soil samples analysed; there is no mention of the Nitrogen content (this omission might be significant). I would be quite surprised if any of the BIG 3 were in short supply in view of the recent fertilizer application.
Then the irrigation was jacked up.
Now we are talking fungicide application.
I have this nagging suspicion that the fertilizer application is at the root of the problem. I think that there might have been an over application and the lawn browned out. The stepped up irrigation was a good thing. The effect of the fertilizer application may have been arrested. Is there healthy new growth? Mowing will get rid of the brown in due course.
There may well be a fungus infection but my considered opinion is that you should confirm it before you apply any fungicide.
It has also occured to me that you might talk with the previous owner, if possible; (s)he may have some useful experience to share.
I am reminded of an adage once quoted by my grandfather 'never take down a fence before you find out why it was put up'.
I am sure that you will be able to resolve the lawn problem but it will involve some interesting work.

{{gwi:105336}}

Hi,

Great info in the last post. I will share my experience with Brown Patch Disease in my fescue lawn. I have had it in the lawn for the past 10 years, some years worse than others. It always recovers, but some years I have to reseed a few spots. I went to the County Extension office last year and asked if I could try using Daconil on the lawn. She said it is not advised for home use, but there are others using it with success. I then went on line and found a website that had a good article on lawn fungus, which I have included. I called their 800 number and they were helpful and suggested Daconil for my lawn. I was told that the powder form is 80 percent Daconil and will not burn the lawn if used when the temperature is over 80 degrees. This product is not cheap, but I use so little of it that I will have enough for my 3,000 sq ft. lawn to last for years to come. I used it twice last year at the preventative rate--2 Tablespoons per gallon and it takes 3 gallons for my yard of 3,000 sq feet. That is all I needed for last year as we had a drought and with no rain--there is not the environment for the fungus to grow.

This year has been totally different, as we have had a lot of rain and humidity and I have had brown patch to start. I have used Daconil twice, once on May 28 at the preventative rate and after seeing it start, I used the cure rate of 4 T per gallon and it took 3 gallons. This was June 18. The day before, I spread Espoma fertilizer---the one called Plant Tone --on the lawn. I used one small bag on the front and one on the back yard--just throwing it on with my hands. I then watered that in well and the next day sprayed the lawn with the cure rate of Daconil. The picture above is one I just took and you can see the lawn is recovering.

I also have raked the brown patches up with a thatch rake. It is time consuming but it helps the lawn to recover more quickly. So far I am pleased with using fungicide on the lawn, though it is not my preference to use chemicals, but it was a last resort for me after living through 10 years of brown patches in my lawn and all the experts telling me not to use chemicals. I also now love Espom fertilizer for my lawn. I started using it last Fall, when the nursery told me to fertilize my trees with it. They told me to thow it around the perimeter of each tree and the grass around that part of the lawn stayed lush and tall and green all winter. The Plant Tone has in it dehydrated manure and corn gluten and bone meal and dried blood and a few other ingredients.

Today, I am going to use SedgeHammer on the nutsedge in my lawn. That stuff really works on nutsedge. It is very expensive, so I purchased the one and a third oz and it will last for years, as it is very concentrated. Last year I had a lot. This year just a little and I used it two weeks ago and it knocked it dead. Now I have a few more sprouting up and will spray again.

Betty

Here is a link that might be useful: article on lawn fungus

Betty,

Is Bugspray.com where you purhased the Daconil?

Greg

Hi Greg,

Yes, it is. I wanted to get the granular or powdered Daconil which is 80 percent Daconil rather than the liquid kind that you can purchase at Walmart. The liquid kind has other ingredients in it, and that is why the liquid Daconil cannot be sprayed if the temperature is over 80 degrees.

Betty

Thanks all for the feedback. Ronalawn82, unfortunately, there is not a reliable test for nitrogen content, so the extensions don't test for it. On whether it is a fungus infection, that is one thing I'm sure of. It looks like a classic case of dollar spot: round circle of staw colored grass, the edge of the infected area has a brownish/red tint and there are "cobwebs" in each spot that can be seen in the morning dew. BTW- I should add that the backyard snapped back with the additional water. So given the additional info, think I should proceed with a fungicide and/or additional nitrogen?

I am having a similar problem down here in Alabama. I decided to water my lawn (bermuda) for the first time this year, two days in a row, probably 1.5" total for the two days. A week later, I'm infested with what I can assume is dollar or brown spot, but only on half of the area that was watered.
TruGreen applied some weed and feed about a month ago, so IS it possible that dollar or brown spot is caused by too much water?

{{gwi:105337}}
{{gwi:105338}}

Hi all, just wanted to post a follow up to help anyone who has this problem in the future. I concluded via this forum and pics on the web that I definitey had dollar spot and not brown patch. To resolve the problem, I first fertilized with Milorganite to boost the nitrogen. I choose that over a high number Scott's product because it was July and I wanted to be careful not to burn it. Then I applied Spectracide fungicide. I applied a second dose two weeks later. After about 3 weeks, I saw that the blades that weren't completely killed had new growth, pushing out the straw colored grass. After about 5 weeks I was good as new!

Funny thing about dollar spot, it is usually a low N disease. Was there white cotton like substance on the areas in question? It would have resembles a cobweb. The disease triangle has three sides Host(plant), Pathogen(fungus), and Environment. All three have to be present for there to be damage. From the look of things it could also be bluegrass billbug. You can usually grow out of dollar spot, if the problem continues do some spot checking for shoot damage.