Tips On Spotting And Fixing Lawn Issues
Every homeowner would like to have a nice lawn embracing their house. As such, you need to take care of your lawn at all times to ensure that it looks good. Unfortunately, your lawn might develop problems no matter how good you are at maintaining it.
The trick is spotting the problem and correcting it before it ruins the entire lawn. There are so many lawn issues that might pop up, and you should be well-prepared to fix them. We’ve covered some of these issues and highlighted a few tips on how to fix them.
Brown Spots
Lawns tend to develop brown patches for various reasons, including excessive nitrogen, high heat, poor soil damage, compacted soil, moisture, and high humidity. It’s easy to identify this problem because it creates yellowish-brown circular patches in your lawn. You’ll also notice a smoke ring border surrounding the brown patch.
In most cases, brown patches will disappear on their own, but it takes time. You can, however, fix the problems by applying fungicide, watering the lawn properly, applying the right amount of fertilizer, and aerating the soil.
Bald Spots
Bald patches on your lawn can be an eyesore, and it is not uncommon for your lawn to have them. Unfortunately, bald spots attract weeds, and you should act quickly before they start growing. How do you identify bald patches? Well, you just need to check for any spots that do not have grass growing.
The only way to fix a bald spot is by planting grass. But before you do so, you need to dig up the damaged section and its surrounding. Once you’ve done that, add plant-based compost and starter fertilizer like 13-25-12. Now you can scatter some seeds, water the ground, and cover the section lightly with straw. You can also decide to use sod instead of seed grass as it solves the problem instantly.
Some products like, Mighty Fine Lawn Repair Mix, contain seed, mulch, fertilizer, and tackifier all in one product for an easy solution to patch a lawn.
Weeds On The Lawn
Weeds on the lawn are a problem that every homeowner has to deal with at one point—from crabgrass, creeping Charlie to dollarweed, dandelion, and oxalis. You can tell that you have weeds on your lawn by checking for any other plants other than grass.
Getting rid of weeds is a bit difficult as you have to be careful not to kill the grass. You can choose to use the hand weeding method if you have a few weeds on the lawn. You can also use gas-powered flamers to kill the weeds. If the above methods fail to work, use a high-quality herbicide like Crew from Corteva Agriscience or call a lawn care service to help you with the weeds.
White Grubs
White grubs are destructive pests as they feed on grass roots causing your lawn grass to brown and die. As the name suggests, white grubs are white in color and have a C-shape. You can tell whether your lawn is infested with white grubs by checking for yellow or brown patches during spring and fall.
You might also notice skunks and raccoons digging up your lawn as they look for white grubs. Once you notice these signs, dig up the affected spot and check for white grubs. The best way of killing white grubs is by applying a pesticide when they are most vulnerable, ideally during fall and spring.